Department for Transport

Aviation: Training

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help young people access training to them to obtain employment in the aviation sector.

Jesse Norman: Through the Government’s Aviation Strategy consultation, the Department is working with industry to ensure the next generation of aviation professionals is both attracted and retained. The consultation includes proposals for overcoming financial, social mobility and diversity barriers which may prevent skilled individuals from entering the aviation sector.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Green Deal Scheme: Complaints

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many complaints he has received under the Green Deal Framework (Disclosure Acknowledgement Redress etc.) Regulations 2012; and on how many of those complaints he has issued a decision.

Claire Perry: My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has received ninety four cases under the Green Deal Framework (Disclosure, Acknowledgment, Redress etc.) Regulations 2012 (the Regulations). To date, three final decisions and intention notices for two other cases have been issued. The Department is committed to resolving all these cases fairly and as quickly as possible. However, the complex and legal nature of the redress process prescribed by the Regulations and volume of information we receive from consumers means complaints take some time to resolve. In most cases we need to go back to the consumer to seek further information to determine whether a breach has occurred which has caused (or is likely to cause) the consumer to suffer ‘substantive loss’. We also have to allow for periods during which representations can be made. The Department has obtained additional support to review cases in order to speed up the process and is aiming to address these appeals over the next few months. The Department has separately put in place a process for redress at an earlier stage with the Green Deal Finance Company. This process relates to one particular Green Deal Provider, HELMS. Thus far, over 100 customers have received a settlement through that process.

Measurement

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to amend Schedule 1 Part 5 of the Weights and Measurements Act 1985 to reflect the abolition of the International Prototype of the Kilogram as the standard definition of a kilogram by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government recognises the importance of accurate and consistent measurement for UK business and science and will ensure the new International definition of the kilogram is reflected in UK law.

Post Offices: Franchises

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect on post office (a) staff employment terms and conditions, (b) service times, (c) counter numbers, (d) disabled access and (e) customer service issues generally of franchising.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010. While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. Franchising is an operational matter for the Post Office. I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the Group Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Post Offices: Franchises

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect on the viability of high streets and local economies of franchising post offices.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010. While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. Franchising is an operational matter for the Post Office. I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the Group Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Energy: Billing

Faisal Rashid: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that consumers are notified that their energy tariff is ending in time to make preparations to find the cheapest tariff.

Claire Perry: Ofgem Licence Conditions currently require energy supply companies to provide their customers with a notification, no earlier than 49 days and no later than 42 days before the end of their fixed term contract is due to end. From 11 February 2019 this rule will be one of many, replaced by principles-based rules on customer communications that will provide flexibility on when notifications can be sent. These principles will require suppliers to send notices before the end of a fixed term deal at a time designed to prompt customers to take action, while also leaving reasonable time for the customer to make an informed choice about the tariff options available. More information on these changes can be found online at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/final-decision-domestic-supplier-customer-communications-rulebook-reforms.

Renewable Energy: Subsidies

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to increase subsidies for (a) wind, (b) solar and (c) wave/tidal power under the Levy Control Framework.

Claire Perry: The Government is committed to keeping energy costs as low as possible. The Levy Control Framework will not be renewed (as a budgetary framework) after it expires in 2020/21. It will be replaced by the Control for Low Carbon Levies (“the Control”), which was announced at the Autumn Budget in 2017. The Control covers all existing and new low carbon electricity levies and will monitor the total cost of these schemes. In order to protect consumers, the government will not introduce new low carbon electricity levies until the burden of such costs is falling. On the basis of the current forecast, this means that there will be no new low carbon electricity levies until 2025. All existing contracts and commitments will be respected, including up to £557 million for further Contracts for Difference. The Control does not rule out future support for any technology.

Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme: Air Pollution

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has calculated the social costs linked to pollutants emitted from biomass boilers supported by the Renewable Heat Incentive since that scheme began in 2013.

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has calculated the social costs linked to pollutants emitted from biomass boilers supported by the Renewable Heat Incentive in (a) urban areas and (b) rural areas.

Claire Perry: In the February 2018 Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) Impact Assessment, Government estimated the social costs and benefits from carbon savings and air quality impacts for biomass boilers supported under the RHI. The discounted lifetime value of carbon savings and air quality impacts from RHI biomass boilers is shown below. This demonstrates a positive impact, and therefore the social benefit of biomass on the scheme across GB.Carbon savings (traded and non-traded)+£2,860mAir quality benefits+£550mTotal+£3,410m

Global Navigation Satellite Systems: Costs

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy,  pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2018 to Question 200617 on Global Navigation Satellite Systems: Costs, to which Department the engineering study on the proposed Global Navigation Satellite System will report.

Chris Skidmore: The study referred to in the answer given by my rt. hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 13 December 2018 to Question 200617 is the Engineering, Design, and Development Phase that is developing options for a UK Global Navigation Satellite System. This in-depth study is being run by the UK Space Agency, as an Executive Agency of the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Saudi Arabia: Capital Punishment

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Saudi Arabian counterpart on the planned execution of Abbas al-Hassan and 11 other individuals for exercising their rights to freedom of religion and association.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the Government of Saudi Arabia's compliance with international agreements on the use of torture, forced confessions and capital punishment in the sentencing of Abbas al-Hassan and eleven other individuals for exercising their rights to freedom of religion and association.

Alistair Burt: We are very concerned about the reports that these executions may be imminent and we are closely monitoring these cases. We last raised these concerns on 20 November and 3 December, when we discussed both the substance of the cases and the UK’s long standing opposition to the death penalty. It is a longstanding policy of the British Government to oppose the death penalty, in all circumstances, as a matter of principle.We consistently and unreservedly condemn torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and it is a priority for us to combat it wherever and whenever it occurs.We have been and do continually raise our concerns including on this case with the Saudi Arabian authorities using a range of Ministerial and diplomatic channels of communication, including our Ambassador.

Israa al-Ghomgham

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Saudi Arabian counterpart on the planned execution of Israa al-Ghomgham for demanding greater rights for women in that country.

Alistair Burt: We remain deeply concerned about Israa al Ghomgham and continue to closely monitor developments. It is a longstanding policy of the British Government to oppose the death penalty, in all circumstances, as a matter of principle.

Saudi Arabia: Human Rights

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his counterpart in Saudi Arabia on the use of that country’s Specialised Criminal Court to prosecute and convict individuals seeking to protest or exercise their human rights in that country.

Alistair Burt: The UK is closely following the issues of the sentences imposed on human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia and the use of the Special Criminal Court (SCC) to prosecute activists. Our Ambassador in Riyadh regularly raises this issue with the Saudi Authorities. Representatives of our Embassy in Riyadh attend all trials of activists at the SCC that they are permitted to by the authorities. We raise our concerns at all levels and at all appropriate opportunities, including through our Ambassador, Embassy staff and through the EU.

Chan Kin-man

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Chinese counterpart on the prosecution of Professor Chan Kin-Man; and what assessment he has made on whether the potential imprisonment of Professor Chan Kin-Ma complies with the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration.

Mark Field: The British government continues to follow the trial of Professor Chan Kin-Man and other leaders of the ‘Occupy’ Movement in Hong Kong.Individual cases regarding pro-democracy activists are a matter for the Hong Kong courts. The British Government hopes that these and other recent criminal proceedings do not discourage lawful protest, nor discourage young people from engaging in politics in the future. I visited Hong Kong in November and made clear the UK’s continued commitment to the Joint Declaration, and to the faithful implementation of the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ agreement, which guarantees rights and freedoms to Hong Kong’s people.​

Hong Kong: Politics and Government

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Chinese counterpart on the banning of the Hong Kong National Party; and what assessment he has made on whether the decision to ban that party complies with the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration.

Mark Field: We note with concern by the decision of the Hong Kong SAR Government to prohibit the Hong Kong National Party. This is the first time a party has been banned under the Societies Ordinance since the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997.Under the doctrine of 'One Country, Two Systems' the UK does not support Hong Kong independence, but Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy and its rights and freedoms are central to its way of life, and it is important they are fully respected.I visited Hong Kong in November and made clear that recent events, including the banning of the Hong Kong National Party, are putting Hong Kong’s rights and freedoms under increasing pressure. He noted the UK’s continued commitment to the Joint Declaration, and to the faithful implementation of the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ agreement, which guarantees rights and freedoms for Hong Kong’s people.

Amazonia: Forests and Indigenous Peoples

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Brazilian counterpart on the protection of the Amazon rainforest and its indigenous tribes.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign Secretary last spoke with his Brazilian counterpart on 14 September to discuss a range of bilateral issues. We are working with Brazil to help ensure it continues to protect the Amazon and those who live within it.

Brazil: Climate Change

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Brazilian counterpart on that country’s commitment to the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

Sir Alan Duncan: I was pleased to hear that President-elect Bolsonaro confirmed on 25 October that Brazil will not be withdrawing from the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

Brazil: State Visits

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government's position is on providing a State Visit to President Bolsonaro of Brazil.

Sir Alan Duncan: There are no plans for a State Visit by President-elect Bolsonaro.

Afghanistan: Ethnic Groups

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help the Afghan authorities respond effectively to attacks on the Hazara community in Afghanistan and to prevent the occurrence of future attacks.

Mark Field: We have raised concerns following reports of civilian casualties and displacement resulting from recent Taliban attacks in districts predominantly populated by Hazaras. We continue to monitor the situation closely, especially in Ghazni and Uruzgan districts. We understand that the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) are working to stabilise the security situation in both provinces.We urge the Government of Afghanistan to protect the rights of all ethnic and religious groups, including the Hazaras, in line with the Afghan constitution. The UK provides a range of support which aims to enhance the Afghan Government’s ability to protect all Afghan citizens. Through DFID, we have contributed £42 million towards lifesaving humanitarian aid in Afghanistan this year. The UK is also committed to supporting the Afghan Security Forces to ensure their capability continues to improve in order to protect all ethnic and religious groups in Afghanistan. We contribute to this through the UK’s contribution to NATO’s Resolute Support Mission.

USA: Refugees

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his US counterpart on the planned reduction in the number of refugees to be admitted to that country next year to 30,000 from the 90,000 admitted each year under the previous administration; and what plans he has to lead international efforts to fill the gap created by that reduction.

Sir Alan Duncan: I have not spoken to the US deputy Secretary of State about this particular policy. The UK has been working with the UN to agree a Global Compact which offers refugees a viable future and is set for adoption by the end of the year. We have actively participated in its development from the beginning and have engaged with other Member States and interested parties, including the United States. The UK is at the forefront of responding to forced displacement and refugee crises around the world and we are one of the most significant contributors to UNHCR, including £100m last year, along with a commitment to provide £35m annually in core funding through to 2021.​

Pakistan: Refugees

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Pakistani counterpart on the citizenship status of the 1.5 million children of Afghan refugees currently living in that country.

Mark Field: The British government welcomes the decision of the Pakistan government to grant registered Afghans the right to remain in Pakistan until June 2019. We also welcome last month’s second meeting of the Refugee Working Group between the Pakistani and Afghan governments. The British government continues to advocate for the rights of Afghan refugees, and follows developments closely.​

Asia Bibi

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department instructed the Home Office not to offer asylum to Asia Bibi due to concerns for the safety of British consular staff in Pakistan.

Mark Field: The UK Government’s primary concern is for the safety and well-being of Asia Bibi and her family. We want to see a swift, positive resolution to the case.It is the long standing position of the Government not to comment on individual immigration issues.

Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Iranian counterpart on the detention of Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee for insulting Islamic sanctities by advocating against the use of stoning as a punishment.

Alistair Burt: We have not made any representations on this specific case, however, the UK is committed to holding Iran to account on a wide range of human rights issues, through contact with the Iranian government and internationally through the EU and UN. We have also designated Iran as one of our Human Rights Priority Countries.

Iran: Baha'i Faith

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Iranian counterpart on the jailing of (a) Farajollah Bangaleh and (b) Mitra Badrnejad for practicing their Ba’hai faith; and whether he raised the Iranian authority's treatment of the Ba’hai people on his recent trip to Tehran.

Alistair Burt: We are particularly concerned by the continuing systematic discrimination, harassment and targeting of the Baha’i community. The British government supports the UN Special Rapporteur’s assessment that discrimination against the Baha’i community in Iran is legally sanctioned by a lack of constitutional recognition and the absence of other legal protections for adherents of this faith. Though we have not raised specifically the cases of Farajollah Bangaleh and Mitra Badrnejad, we have repeatedly expressed concern at the ongoing incarceration, and the shocking sentencing of Baha'i leaders and the wider community in Iran with the Iranian authorities.

Journalism and Press Freedom

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of calls from Reporters Without Borders for the creation of a UN Special Rapporteur with responsibility for monitoring the protection of journalists and press freedom.

Mark Field: The UK is fully committed to the promotion of media freedom and the protection of journalists. The Foreign Secretary has announced our intention to launch in 2019 an international campaign to end the climate of impunity and mobilise a consensus behind the protection of journalists worldwide. We are currently considering how this campaign can best add value and reinforce existing mechanisms, including those of the UN and other international organisations. We have held discussions with Reporters Without Borders and are actively reviewing their proposal for a dedicated UN postion on this issue. ​

Gaza: Israel

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on allegations that Israeli security forces impersonated humanitarian workers while conducting a military operation inside the Gaza Strip in November 2018; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: Whilst we have not discussed this specific issue, officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv are in regular discussions with the Israeli authorities on the situation in Gaza, most recently on 4 December.

Hungary: Antisemitism

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Hungarian counterpart on threats to Jewish people by far right groups in that country.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign Secretary has not discussed with his Hungarian counterpart threats to Jewish people by far right groups in the country. We welcome the Hungarian Government’s stated commitment to address and eliminate anti-Semitism and all forms of racism. The UK remains committed to strengthening international co-operation across Europe to tackle anti-Semitism. Our Embassy in Budapest maintains regular dialogue with Jewish organisations in Hungary.

Kazakhstan: Foreign Relations

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to create (a) economic and (b) cultural links with Kazakhstan.

Sir Alan Duncan: Economic cooperation and cultural links are an important part of the UK-Kazakh relationship which celebrated its 25th anniversary last year. 2018 saw a full calendar of activities, including the launch of our high-profile Legal Services are Great Campaign in Astana and Almaty and the Fifth Meeting of the UK-Kazakhstan Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation attended by George Hollingbery MP, Minister of State for Trade Policy. Department for International Trade Minister of State Graham Stuart attended the official launch of the Astana International Financial Centre, a regional financial hub developed with support from TheCityUK, which has an associated court with separate legal jurisdiction, based on English common law, and staffed by British judges. Other joint UK-Kazakh ventures include: ‘Creative Central Asia’, an annual leadership conference between senior representatives from the UK’s and Kazakhstan’s creative sector; ‘Bring the Happy’, an interactive arts experience using cabaret-style music and theatre; and a partnership involving Cambridge University and Kazakhstan’s National Bureau of Translation which has collaborated on the translation and publication of a new anthology of modern Kazakh literature.​

South Sudan: Sexual Offences

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his counterpart in South Sudan on recent reports of sexual assaults on women and girls in Northern Liech State in late November including by men in military uniforms.

Harriett Baldwin: In November, Mėdecins Sans Frontières in South Sudan reported that over 150 women and girls in the Bentiu area of Northern Liech State had been raped, severely beaten, and robbed by men in military uniforms and civilian clothing.The British Government strongly condemns these barbaric attacks. The parties to the conflict, including the Government of South Sudan, must guarantee the safety, security, and dignity of all South Sudanese citizens. We urge the Government to ensure that the perpetrators of these horrific crimes are held to account. The survivors must receive the medical and psychosocial support they need. Senior officials at the British Embassy in Juba most recently raised our concerns with the Government on 13 December, and we will continue to push for robust action to be taken through our ongoing diplomatic engagement.We echo calls by the UN Special Representatives on Sexual Violence in Conflict and for Children and Armed Conflict for immediate action by the Government to address the culture of impunity that persists in South Sudan. The Government must agree the Memorandum of Understanding with the African Union and establish the Hybrid Court without delay.Through DFID, the UK continues to provide support to survivors of sexual and gender based violence in South Sudan. We are funding the International Medical Corps to deliver a £13 million programme over four years which includes sexual and gender based violence interventions. The programme provides support to survivors as well as long term prevention strategies, and has included sexual and reproductive health services, clinical management of rape, psychosocial support, and legal counselling.

Nicaragua: Travel Information

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department plans to update its travel advice to Nicaragua; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​We keep all of our travel advice, including for Nicaragua, under constant review to ensure it reflects our assessment of the risk to British nationals. Our travel advice for Nicaragua was last updated on 17 December.

Armed Forces: Children

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to prevent the recruitment of child soldiers in fragile and failed states.

Mark Field: The UK is firmly committed to ending the recruitment and use of child soldiers and to protecting all children affected by armed conflict.The UK is an active member of the United Nations Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC), which leads the international response to the issue of child soldiers and child protection. This includes pressing those parties to conflict listed in the UN Secretary-General's annual report on CAAC to enter into concrete action plans with the UN to verify and release any child soldiers associated with armed groups and forces. We apply diplomatic pressure to listed governments and armed groups, and fund projects to help protect and rehabilitate vulnerable children. We also press for the inclusion of child protection in peacekeeping responses through UN mandate renewals and resolutions. The UK is the largest single financial contributor to the office of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for CAAC contributing £800,000 in the last five years. We have shown our support for the SRSG's recently launched Global Coalition for Reintegration by joining the 'Friends of Reintegration' group, a forum to generate new ideas for supporting reintegration programmes for children formerly associated with armed groups.In 2018, the UK endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration, a political commitment to reduce the impact of conflict on education, and the Vancouver Principles, which aims to ensure that child protection is an operational priority for UN peacekeeping missions. As a member of the Group of Friends of CAAC in Geneva, we also participated in a joint statement to the 37th session of the Human Rights Council in March 2018, in which we reiterated our strong support for the mandate of the SRSG for CAAC. We worked very closely with Sweden and others to agree Resolution 2427 adopted by the UN Security Council in July 2018, to strengthen protection mechanisms for children in armed conflict.

British Overseas Territories: Companies

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans the Government has to support the Overseas Territories to introduce public registers of company beneficial ownership; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK Government plans to work consensually with the Overseas Territories on introducing public registers at the earliest possible date. This will include through the OT-UK technical workshops that will be scheduled from spring next year and in line with our legal obligations to provide “all reasonable assistance”.

British Overseas Territories: Companies

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions representatives of his Department had at the Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council on 4-5 December 2018 on the establishment of public beneficial ownership registers in the Overseas Territories.

Sir Alan Duncan: Lord Ahmad, Minister of State for the Overseas Territories, and Mr John Penrose MP, the Prime Minister's Anti-Corruption Champion discussed the Government's approach to taking forward section 51 of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act with Overseas Territories' leaders. The UK will prepare draft legislation by the end of 2020, with all OTs expected to have fully functioning public registers by the end of 2023. The UK will push for action at the highest levels with our partners around the world to make public registers of company beneficial ownership the global norm by 2023. Gibraltar has committed to have in place a publicly accessible register of beneficial ownership for legal entities in line with the EU 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive by January 2020.

Cabinet Office

Government Departments: Social Media

Tim Loughton: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which social media platforms the Government has paid to advertise its EU withdrawal agreement; and how much the Government has paid to each of those platforms for that purpose in 2018.

Chloe Smith: EU Withdrawal Agreement public information advertising ran on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Available spend data for all government public information advertising on the above platforms to support campaigns including teacher recruitment, blood donation, public health and more, for the period January-October, is as follows: Facebook: £11,402,996.21LinkedIn: £873.593.26Twitter: £1,753,100.89

Government Departments: Social Media

Tim Loughton: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much the Government has spent on advertising on social media platforms in each of the last five years.

Chloe Smith: Information is not held for 20142015 social media spend: £11,503,936.53 2016 social media spend: £13,254,798.19 2017 social media spend: £17,963,664.31 2018 social media spend (Jan-Oct): £16,408,949.69

Unemployment: Learning Disability

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the rate of unemployment for adults with learning difficulties since 2010.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 154.42 KB)

Government Departments: Social Media

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people in each nation and region of the UK (a) were targeted by and (b) interacted with social media advertising promoting the Withdrawal Agreement that was paid for by the public purse.

Chloe Smith: Public information advertising for the EU Withdrawal Agreement was targeted to all adults in Britain. Only the number of impressions (appearances of the advert) are available by region, not number of interactions (and only for twitter):LocationImpressionsEngland, GB24057420Greater London, GB8176676North West England, GB3289345Yorkshire and The Humber, GB1980093East England, GB2069548West Midlands, GB1860440South East England, GB3054779South West England, GB1680184North East England, GB1048632East Midlands, GB1688860Northern Ireland, GB674135Scotland, GB3293251Wales, GB1301466

Government Departments: Social Media

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of the electorate in each parliamentary constituency have been targeted by social media advertising which has been paid for by the public purse and which promotes the Prime Minister's EU Withdrawal Agreement.

Chloe Smith: Social media advertising was prompted to all adults in the UK. The requested data is therefore not available at constituency level.

Migration: Students

Faisal Rashid: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reasons students are included in migration statistics.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 127.66 KB)

Childbirth

Jim Shannon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) live births and (b) stillbirths in each part of the United Kingdom in each year since 2000.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 69.64 KB)

Census: Sikhs

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to paragraph 3.107 Census 2021 White Paper, what proportion of Gurdwaras surveyed expressed agreement with a Sikh ethnic group tick-box.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 150.68 KB)

British Nationals Abroad: Voting Rights

Greg Hands: What plans he has to change the time limit on the entitlement of UK citizens living overseas to register to vote in UK parliamentary elections.

Chloe Smith: British citizens living abroad retain strong links with the United Kingdom, no matter how far they have travelled. The Government is supporting my Hon friend the Member for Montgomeryshire’s Private Member’s Bill on Overseas Electors which delivers our manifesto commitment to introducing votes for life.

Elections: Subversion

Mr Jim Cunningham: What steps the Government is taking to protect the UK electoral system from overseas interference.

Chloe Smith: We have not seen evidence of successful interference in UK democratic processes. However, we are not complacent, as the Prime Minister said: we will do what is necessary to protect ourselves, and work with our allies to do likewise. Cabinet Office coordinates cross-Government work to protect our democracy.

Interserve

Diana Johnson: What recent discussions he has had with Interserve on the viability of its public sector contracts.

Oliver Dowden: We monitor the financial health of all strategic suppliers, including Interserve, and have regular discussions with the company’s management. The funding arrangements of Interserve are a matter for the company. But we welcome moves to increase the financial robustness of a company which employs 45,000 people in the UK.

Department of Health and Social Care

Rare Diseases: Drugs

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 12 November 2018 to Question 188234 on Rare Diseases: Drugs, whether NICE can make a conditional recommendation for treatment for rare diseases that do not qualify for conditional recommendation through the cancer drugs fund.

Steve Brine: The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence can make a conditional recommendation for treatment for rare diseases that do not qualify for conditional recommendation through the cancer drugs fund. For example, it has recommended the use of belimumab for the treatment of lupus subject to the conditions of a managed access agreement.

Rare Diseases: Drugs

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his policy paper of 5 December 2018 entitled Voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access, whether NICE plans to review the suitability of its technology appraisal methods for rare disease treatments that do not qualify for the highly specialised technologies programme.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is not yet able to advise what will be included in the scope of the review of its technology appraisal methods. NICE will begin scoping the planned review in 2019/20 with the involvement of industry and other relevant stakeholders.

Hospices: Pay

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the NHS pay award on the (a) retention of staff and (b) number of staff being employed at hospices; and if will he make a statement.

Caroline Dinenage: No assessment has been made. The National Health Service pay award is based on changes to the Agenda for Change (AfC) contract. Where hospice staff are not employed on an AfC contract remuneration levels are a matter for the hospice concerned. Some hospices have local agreements to match the NHS pay award however this is matter for individual decision.

Tobacco: Labelling

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure continued use of the EU library for picture warnings for tobacco products in the event of the UK leaving the EU without an overall agreement.

Steve Brine: The United Kingdom would be unable to continue to use the European Union library for picture warnings in tobacco products in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal. Securing the continued use of these pictures can only be discussed as part of the future relationships phase of the EU exit negotiations.

Multiple Sclerosis

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) treatments and (b) support is provided by the NHS to people with progressive multiple sclerosis.

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have progressive multiple sclerosis.

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what financial assistance his Department makes available to (a) organisations dealing with multiple sclerosis and (b) individuals who have multiple sclerosis.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) provides a range of guidance on the treatment and management of multiple sclerosis (MS), including information on the use of disease modifying therapies for use in the National Health Service for the treatment of patients with relapsing remitting MS; the most common form of the disease. NICE also highlights the importance of involving professionals who can meet the needs of the patient in the best way, such as physiotherapists and occupational therapists. In January 2016, NICE published an MS Quality Standard. This includes the Quality Statement: “Adults with MS are offered a comprehensive review at least once a year by healthcare professionals with expertise in MS.” Once diagnosed, and with a management strategy in place, the majority of people with MS can be cared for through routine access to primary and secondary care. However, NHS England also commissions the specialised elements of MS care that patients may need. These services are provided at 25 specialised neurological treatment centres across England. NHS England has published a service specification setting out what providers must have in place to deliver specialised neurological care, including equity of access to services for patients wherever they live. The specification can be found via the following link: www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/group-d/d04/ The Department does not collect information on the number of people with MS. Various studies have estimated numbers at around 100,000 people in the United Kingdom. The NICE guideline ‘Multiple sclerosis: management of multiple sclerosis in primary and secondary care’, published in 2014, uses this estimate and breaks this down for the three types of MS: relapsing remitting (affecting about 85% of those diagnosed); secondary progressive which can come after relapsing remitting, and primary progressive (affecting 10-15% of those diagnosed). On the available information it does not appear that the Department centrally directly financially supports any charity or third sector organisations related to MS. The Department does not make any financial help specifically available for those with MS. Those with MS have the same entitlement on grounds of low income to help with NHS costs as other individuals.

Dementia

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to tackle the challenges people with dementia face in obtaining (a) good residential care and (b) access to community support services.

Caroline Dinenage: Dementia remains a key priority for the Government. We will implement the Government’s Challenge on Dementia 2020 (published in February 2015) in full to make this the best country to live in with dementia by 2020. Working with our partners, we continue to make progress against the ambitions set out in the March 2016 Implementation Plan which details how the commitments in the Challenge, across the four core themes of risk reduction, health and care, awareness and social action, and research will be met. In addition, the Department is working with the adult social care sector to implement Quality Matters – a shared commitment to take action to achieve high quality adult social care for service users, families, carers and everyone working in the sector. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are required to shape their whole local markets to ensure that they are sustainable, diverse and offer high quality care and support for people in their local area.

Speech and Language Disorders: Children and Young People

Rebecca Pow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NHS Clinical Commissioners on ensuring that speech and language therapy service specifications (a) require those services to have a pathway for when a child or young person is not brought to an appointment, (b) appropriately resource those services to provide support in settings that meet the needs of the child or young people and their parent and carer and (c) monitor and report on the number of children and young people who are discharged from those services because they did not attend an appointment.

Caroline Dinenage: There have been no discussions with NHS Clinical Commissioners concerning speech and language therapy service specifications. Clinical commissioning groups have local responsibility for commissioning services to meet the needs of their local population, drawing on National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance to agree the specifications for communication support. The protection and safeguarding of children and young people from harm is of paramount importance to all parts for the health care system. All providers should have their own governance arrangements in place for responding to non-attendance at appointments.

Pancreatic Cancer

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the role of early detection in improving outcomes for people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Steve Brine: Improving early diagnosis of cancer is a priority for this Government. In October 2018, the Prime Minister announced our ambitions to see 55,000 more people surviving cancer for five years in England each year from 2028 and three quarters of all cancers detected at an early stage by 2028. To achieve these targets, we will need to make significant progress on survival across all cancers, including pancreatic cancer. The announcement included the roll out of rapid diagnostic centres across the country to offer patients a range of tests in the same day with rapid access to results. These will be modelled on existing pilots and will mean fewer visits to general practitioners and hospitals, and faster referrals. NHS England will shortly be introducing a Faster Diagnostic Standard of 28 days for all cancer patients which, when taken together with the 62-day referral to treatment standard, will mean that all patients should expect to start their treatment within 34 days of diagnosis. This is a maximum, and trusts should continue to treat patients more quickly particularly where there is a strong clinical need.

Obesity

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce levels of morbid obesity among adults.

Steve Brine: Many of the key measures in both chapters of our childhood obesity plan will have an impact on tackling obesity across all age groups. These include the soft drinks industry levy, sugar reduction and wider calorie reformulation programme, restricting promotions and calorie labelling in restaurants which will improve our eating habits and reduce the amount of sugar we consume.

Autism: Psychiatric Hospitals

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that autistic people are not placed inappropriately in psychiatric wards and units.

Caroline Dinenage: NHS England’s full programme of work in line with the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health is predicated on services being commissioned to provide patients with timely access to evidence-based care as early as possible and as close to home as possible where appropriate. This includes home treatment teams and wider community mental health services. More than £400 million is being invested in crisis resolution and home treatment teams to ensure that people across the country are able to access a 24 hour, seven days a week community based crisis response and intensive home treatment as a safe and effective alternative to hospital admission. By 2021, all areas should have crisis resolution and home treatment teams. A further £249 million is being invested in liaison mental health services in every acute hospital, ensuring that at least 50% of acute hospitals have dedicated on-site 24 hours/seven days provision. As set out in ‘Building the Right Support’, the national plan to develop more community services for people with learning disabilities and/or autism who display behaviour that challenges, including those with a mental health condition, and to close some inpatient facilities, any funding released by the transfer of patients from inpatient to community-based or other models of care will be reinvested in those better alternatives to hospital. In 2018/19, NHS England’s specialised commissioning function has transferred £53 million of funds, previously allocated to secure in-patient care, to Transforming Care Partnerships so that they can support new individual support packages for the patients discharged, or invest in new community services. The priority attached to improving care for autistic people with behaviour that challenges is reflected in the inclusion of both autism and mental health as clinical priorities in the forthcoming NHS long-term plan, which will set the ambitions to improve health services in England over the next decade.

Diabetes: Children

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the symptoms of diabetes in children are identified at the earliest opportunity.

Steve Brine: General practitioners and other healthcare professionals are trained in identifying the relevant symptoms of diabetes in children. Information regarding symptoms and getting diagnosed with type 1 diabetes is available on the National Health Service website which can be accessed via the following link: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/type-1-diabetes/symptoms-and-getting-diagnosed/ Similar information regarding the symptoms and diagnosis of type 2 diabetes is also available on the NHS website at the following link: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/type-2-diabetes/ NHS England is partnered with Diabetes UK who have been running their 4 T’s campaign to raise awareness of the four most common symptoms of type 1 diabetes (Toilet/Thirsty/Tired/Thinner). Further information is available at the following link: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/get_involved/campaigning/4-ts-campaign

Surgery

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who experienced the cancellation of an operation on more than one occasion in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England every year since 2010.

Stephen Hammond: Data is not available in the format requested. NHS England collects and publishes data on a quarterly basis showing the number of cancelled operations as well as the number of patients not treated within 28 days of a cancellation. This data is published at a national level and is available via the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancelled-elective-operations/cancelled-ops-data/

Obesity: Children

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to allocate additional funding to the Childhood Obesity Strategy.

Steve Brine: There are no current plans to allocate additional funding to the childhood obesity strategy.

Refrigerators

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many refrigerators are being built as part of contingency plans in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Stephen Hammond: The Department has no plans to build any refrigerators as part of the contingency planning.

Health Services: Disability

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2018 to Question 199449 on Health Services: Learning Disability, what his policy is on introducing a national disabled people’s healthcare strategy to help ensure parity of treatment for disabled people.

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made on publishing data on case reviews of the death of people with learning disabilities in NHS care, as announced in May 2018.

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government assesses complaints made to the NHS by people with learning disabilities.

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2018 to Question 199449, what steps his Department is taking to assess whether NHS Trusts have adopted the guidance published by NHS Improvement, Learning Disability Improvement Standards for NHS trusts in England.

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2018 to Question 199449, what assessment his Department has made of whether the number of avoidable deaths of people with learning disabilities in the care of the NHS has reduced since the Care Quality Commission began working with NHS Improvement.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department is committed to ensuring that all disabled people, including those with a learning disability, have the same opportunities to access high quality healthcare as everyone else. Where necessary, all healthcare services should make reasonable adjustments to ensure this, in line with the requirements of the Equalities Act 2010 and the NHS Information Standard. We have no plans to introduce a national healthcare strategy for disabled people. In the new year we will consult on the introduction of mandatory learning disability and autism training for health and care staff. This will provide for greater parity of treatment by ensuring that staff understand the needs of people with learning disability or autism and have the skills to deliver the most effective care and support to them. Learning disabilities and autism are also one of the four clinical priority areas within the National Health Service long-term plan, which will also help to address the inequalities experienced by people with a learning disability or autism. As of 30 November 2018, 914 reviews of deaths reported to the Learning Disabilities Mortality Review Programme (LeDeR) have been completed with a further 185 at the approval stage. The next annual report of the LeDeR programme is currently planned to be published before summer 2019 and will include data from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018. All local areas have access to findings from reviews taking place within them. The Department does not assess complaints made to the National Health Service by people with a learning disability. The Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009 set out what local organisations must do in respect of complaint handling in the NHS. These regulations are designed to ensure that wherever possible complaints are resolved effectively at local level with lessons learnt to improve services. As part of the implementation of the Learning Disability Improvement Standards, a data collection is being undertaken by NHS Improvement to better understand the key themes arising for people with learning disabilities accessing NHS care. As part of the data collection, which will close on 31 December, NHS trusts are expected to measure themselves against the Learning Improvement Standards and a number of metrics allied to each Standard. NHS Improvement has shared data from this collection with the Care Quality Commission to help inform their regulatory approach and identify where their support activity is best prioritised. We have not made a formal assessment of whether the number of avoidable deaths of people with learning disabilities in the NHS has reduced. The aim of the LeDeR programme and the Learning Disability Improvement Standards is to ensure that NHS trusts and commissioners maintain a focus on avoidable mortality so that the deaths of people with learning disabilities thought to be due to problems in care are significantly reduced. The LeDeR programme is taking place within the context of the Government’s Learning from Deaths Programme and all acute, community and mental health trusts are required to review and publish locally the number of deaths thought to be due to problems in care on a quarterly basis, evidence of what they have learned through reviews and the actions taken to prevent such deaths in future on an annual basis.

Department for International Development

Afghanistan: Humanitarian Aid

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what additional humanitarian aid the Government is giving in advance of the upcoming winter months to help Hazara families displaced by recent violence against their communities in Afghanistan.

Alistair Burt: The UK is extremely concerned about the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and as a result of UK funding, up to two million Afghans will receive lifesaving assistance in 2018. Provision of humanitarian assistance is based on need. It includes shelter and heating support to help displaced people face the winter, as well as food assistance for those affected by drought, lifesaving health & nutrition services, clean water, and demining activities. As recently announced at the Geneva Conference on Afghanistan, we have increased our funding for the humanitarian response to £67 million this year. We continue to press others to do more.

Developing Countries: Nutrition

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to her Department’s Economic Development Strategy 2017, what steps she is taking to integrate nutrition with her Department’s economic development policies.

Alistair Burt: DFID has developed a strategic approach to integrating nutrition into relevant areas of its economic development work. This includes supporting private sector investment within different parts of the food system in order to make safe nutritious foods more affordable and accessible to poor people, in particular women, adolescent girls and children under five.

Burma: Human Trafficking

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to address human trafficking from northern Myanmar.

Alistair Burt: The UK is leading the fight against modern slavery internationally. In Burma DFID is providing $9 million (£7 million) to raise awareness on trafficking and support safer and more productive migration across all states.

Venezuela: Economic Situation

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the support needed by Venezuela to create appropriate economic conditions for migrants and refugees to return to that country.

Alistair Burt: Whilst DFID is yet to make such an assessment, the UK has been encouraging the Venezuelan Government to address the most urgent needs of the population. We urge the Venezuelan government to recognise the seriousness of the situation and take immediate action to relieve the suffering from acute shortages of food and medicines. A political solution is urgently required to tackle Venezuela’s deep economic and social crises, and allow those who have left to return to their homes. We have deployed two humanitarian advisors from DFID as part of a scoping mission and funded five UN agency secondments to the region. In the meantime, our network across Latin America continues to work closely with the EU, the UN and other international actors to alleviate the worsening humanitarian situation.

Developing Countries: Schools

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the potential merits for her policies of the recommendations in the Send My Friend To School report Safe from harm: protecting every child and teacher at school; and whether the Government plans to sign the Safe Schools Declaration.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she will take to ensure that children throughout the world are able to attend school in safety; and if she will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: Children living through conflict and crisis are particularly vulnerable to violence, including violent attacks against their schools. That’s why the UK is proud to have signed up to the Safe Schools Declaration and is a leading donor to Education Cannot Wait – a fund to provide education in emergencies with the protection of children at its core.   As set out in DFID’s Education Policy ‘Get Children Learning’, preventing and responding to violence against children in schools is a key priority for DFID. This has the potential for positive impacts beyond increasing child safety at school, through achieving better-quality education, and safer, more stable societies. As such DFID welcomes the policy priorities set out in the Send My Friend to School report ‘Safe from harm: Protecting every child and teacher at school.’   DFID has a long history of work to make schools safe. Through the Girls’ Education Challenge and What Works to Prevent Violence programmes, in particular, we have prevented and responded to physical, emotional and sexual violence in schools in countries all over the world and established the evidence base for what works. DFID is also partnering with the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, the United Nations Children’s Fund and others to launch the international ‘Safe to Learn’ campaign in 2019. This campaign intends to spark and accelerate action to end all violence in schools.

Department for Education

Department of Education: Interserve

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the value of his Department's contracts with Interserve.

Nick Gibb: Holding answer received on 13 December 2018



In 2018/19, the following Education and Skills Funding Agency contracts were in place with Interserve Learning and Employment (Services) Ltd.Adult education budget (procured)£1,993,793Apprenticeship carry in*£1,666,240Adult apprenticeships (procured) (non- levy)£5,155,60216-18 apprenticeships (procured) (non- levy) £1,675,29616-18 traineeships£156,043* Includes 16-18 and adult apprenticeships and 16-18 non-levy and adult non-levy apprenticeships.  Details are available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/funding-allocations-to-training-providers-2018-to-2019.In addition to the above contracts, Interserve Learning and Employment (Services) Ltd has five European Social Fund contracts which started in 2016 with an original end date of July 2018. These five contracts have been extended to March 2019.The total contract value for the period 2016 to March 2019 is £19,542,601.

Pupil Exclusions

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of excluding a child from school.

Nick Gibb: There are a range of existing published sources that seek to quantify the cost of exclusion, but the Department has not conducted its own assessment of the cost to the public purse of excluding a child from school. In March, the Government launched an externally led review of exclusions practice, led by Edward Timpson CBE. The review will consider how schools use exclusion and how this impacts on all pupils. The Government will respond to this review when it is published at the beginning of next year.The full terms of reference for the review can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-exclusions-review-terms-of-reference.

Training: Finance

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pots of funding there are in his Department for external bodies to access for training, upskilling and incentivising recruitment; and what the value is of those funds.

Anne Milton: We do not routinely report on funding in the terms requested therefore the information requested is not held centrally.

Pupils: Personal Records

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department shares national pupil data with the Home Office for purposes related to immigration; and how many records have been shared by his Department since May 2010.

Nick Gibb: Where the police or Home Office have clear evidence that a child may be at risk or evidence of criminal activity, including illegal immigration, limited data including a pupil’s address and school details may be requested from the National Pupil Database. It is right that we share this data if it helps to keep a child safe from harm or to disrupt a crime.The basis for sharing information is set out in a Memorandum of Understanding between the two departments. This sharing does not include the pupil nationality and country of birth data previously collected by the Department for research purposes.The department publishes information about all of its data sharing as part of its commitment to transparency. This publication (last updated on 13 December 2018) can be found on GOV.UK at the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfe-external-data-shares.

Pupils: Nationality

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, by what process may schools retract nationality data submitted to his Department between October 2016 and June 2018.

Nick Gibb: The Department collected data on the nationality, country of birth and proficiency in English of pupils via the school census between autumn 2016 and summer 2018. The data was collected for the purposes of educational research to help us understand the impact of migration on the school system. Understanding trends in migration, and the associated needs in the school system, helps us ensure that all children, wherever they are from, have the best possible education.The requirement for parents or guardians to provide information on their children’s nationality and country of birth was always optional and the school census guidance expected schools to ensure that they were made aware of their right to decline to provide this data. Guidance also advised schools to inform parents that if they wished to retract any nationality or country of birth information returned in a previous census, they should inform their school of this decision. This would then be transferred to the department and the department would remove from its systems any information previously returned. As this data is no longer collected, the last opportunity for parents to retract this information was via the last collection in summer 2018.

Pupils: Personal Records

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assurance his Department provides to parents that data on children collected for educational purposes will not subsequently be used for immigration enforcement.

Nick Gibb: The Department publishes information about all of its data sharing as part of its commitment to transparency which includes the number of records shared from the Department for Education to Home Office (HO) to support HO Immigration Enforcement’s key objectives of preventing abuse of immigration control. This publication (last updated on 13 December 2018) can be found on GOV.UK at the link below.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfe-external-data-sharesThis information is also included within the suggested wording for privacy notices that the Department makes available for schools to support them with communicating appropriate messages about how an individual’s personal data will be used.The HO can only request information from the Department for Education for immigration enforcement purposes in circumstances where they have clear evidence a child may be at risk or there is evidence of illegal activity, including illegal immigration. In such cases limited data including a pupil’s address and school details may be requested from the National Pupil Database. It is right that this data is shared if it helps to keep a child safe from harm or to disrupt a crime.

Children: Protection

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential long-term economic benefits of ensuring that children are protected from the effects of (a) abuse and (b) neglect.

Nadhim Zahawi: The educational outcomes for children who experience abuse and neglect are markedly worse than for all children and these children face long term challenges in education and beyond. Three fifths (61%) of children starting to be looked-after during the year ending 31 March 2018 were identified as having a primary need of abuse or neglect[1]. The average Attainment 8 score for all looked-after children was 19.3 in 2017 compared to 44.5 for non-looked after children[2]. In addition, two fifths (39%) of all care leavers aged 19 to 21 were not in education, employment or training during the year ending 31 March 2018 compared to around 12% of young people of a similar age[3]. Research evidence suggests that the care system generally provides a protective factor for vulnerable children with early admission to care being associated with better educational outcomes than later entry[4]. This is why we have increased spending on the most vulnerable children by over £1.5 billion since 2010 and at the budget we announced an extra £410 million next year for social care, including children – alongside £84 million over the next five years to keep more children safely at home with their families. [1] Children looked-after in England including adoption: 2017 to 2018: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2017-to-2018.[2] Outcomes for children looked-after by local authorities: 31 March 2017: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/outcomes-for-children-looked-after-by-las-31-march-2017.[3] Not in education, employment or training statistics quarterly brief: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-neet.[4] The Educational Progress of Looked-After Children in England: Linking Care and Educational Data, Rees Centre Oxford, 2015.

Special Educational Needs

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that children who need one on one classroom assistance are able to receive such assistance.

Nick Gibb: There are a number of reasons why a child may benefit from one on one classroom assistance; for example a child might need extra support for a short period of time to help them catch up.Teachers and head teachers are responsible for making decisions about how staff are deployed, based on their knowledge of children’s needs.

Classroom Assistants

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many classroom assistant job positions have been removed in each of the last three years.

Nick Gibb: The full time equivalent (FTE) number of teaching assistants in state funded schools in England in each of the last 3 years is shown in the table 1 below.Table 1: Teaching assistants in all state funded schools in England, 2014 to 2017Census yearFTE number of teaching assistantsDifference in FTE from previous yearPercentage difference from previous year2014255,1002015263,0007,9003%2016265,6002,6001%2017262,800-2,800-1%Source: School Workforce CensusThe School Workforce Census does not collect information on vacancies for teaching assistants.The data above is taken from Table 2b of the publication, School Workforce in England 2017. This publication includes underlying data at school level and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-workforce.

Special Educational Needs: Finance

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of changes to levels of funding on the adequacy of provision of special needs education.

Nadhim Zahawi: We have listened to the concerns of local authorities and others about high needs cost pressures. That is why we will provide additional high needs funding allocations for all local authorities, totalling £250 million over 2018 to 2019 and 2019 to 2020. This brings the total allocated for high needs this year to £6.1 billion and £6.3 billion in 2019 to 2020. We recognise that the high needs budget faces significant pressures and this additional investment will help local councils to manage those pressures.Of course, extra funding cannot be our only response and we have also set out plans to support local authorities in their role of providing strategic leadership and oversight of the provision for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. We will continue engaging with local authorities, health providers, families, schools and colleges to build our understanding of what is driving the cost pressures on high needs budgets and to work with the sector to help manage them.

Special Educational Needs: Autism

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the educational outcomes for children with pathological demand avoidance.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department for Education has not assessed the educational outcomes of children and young people who have had a health diagnosis of pathological demand avoidance (PDA) as a distinct group.The department collects data on the educational outcomes of children identified as having special educational needs in comparison to children without special needs. Where individual children and young people with PDA have been identified as having a special educational need, they will be captured via these data collections.

Special Educational Needs

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that children with complex needs are able to obtain a place in a school appropriate for their needs.

Nadhim Zahawi: Children with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) usually have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. The SEND Code of Practice sets out the rights of parents and young people to request the school of their choice when a final EHC plan is issued.Local authorities must name that school in the EHC plan unless it would not be suitable for the pupil’s age, ability, aptitude or SEND, or unless the attendance of the pupil there would be incompatible with the efficient education of others or the efficient use of resources. A school named in an EHC plan has a statutory duty to admit the child or young person.Local authorities have a statutory duty to keep local provision for children and young people with SEND and their families under review to ensure that it continues to meet local needs. This would include the provision of sufficient school places that can support pupils with SEND.The department has allocated £365 million of capital funding (over and above basic need funding) to help build new places at mainstream and special schools and to improve existing places to benefit current and future pupils. Local authorities must consult with local stakeholders to decide how best to spend their allocation.

Special Educational Needs

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support local authorities which have seen a significant rise in the number of children with special educational needs.

Nadhim Zahawi: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education announced in a written ministerial statement on Monday 17 December that we will provide additional high needs funding to all local authorities, totalling £250 million over 2018-19 and 2019-20. This brings the total allocated for children and young people with more complex special educational needs and disabilities to £6.1 billion this year, up by over £1 billion from the £5 billion allocated in 2013. This additional investment will help to support local councils manage the increasing costs of provision for these pupils and students.​We have also announced a further £100 million top-up to the Special Provision Capital Fund in 2019-20 to take our total investment to £365 million across 2018-21. This additional funding will give more children access to a good school or college place and pay for more state-of-the-art facilities, such as sensory rooms and specialist equipment.

Pupils: Temporary Accommodation

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he is taking steps to provide additional educational support for schoolchildren who are housed in temporary accommodation; and if he will make a statement.

Nadhim Zahawi: We know moving into temporary accommodation can mean changing schools, which is strongly associated with poorer attainment. We provide schools with extra resources to ensure all pupils, regardless of their home circumstances, have the educational support they require and can go as far as their talent and hard work will take them. We are spending over £2.4 billion this year through the pupil premium to support disadvantaged pupils, which may include those housed in temporary accommodation.

Children: Protection

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2018 to Question 198762 on Children: Protection, what cross-cutting factors his Department has identified as affecting trends in the level of demand for children's services.

Nadhim Zahawi: The most common factors that present themselves in children’s social care assessments are domestic abuse, neglect and mental health. Data on this is available in Tables B3 and C3 of statistical release ‘Characteristics of children in need 2017-18’ here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/characteristics-of-children-in-need-2017-to-2018.

Education: Standards

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance (a) his Department and (b) Ofsted provide to schools on the regularity with which student progress should be assessed in (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools.

Nick Gibb: Following the removal of national curriculum levels in 2014, primary and secondary schools now have the freedom to develop their own assessment methods to measure their pupils’ progress, so that they can make sure that they are appropriate for their setting and meet the needs of their pupils.The Government does not provide statutory guidance to schools on how often they should assess their pupils’ progress and attainment. The Department has commissioned research to support schools in designing their own assessment policies. The Commission on Assessment Without Levels, the Data Management Review Group, and the Workload Advisory Group have all taken into account the balance that needs to be struck between the burden that assessment can place upon teachers and pupils, and the educational value of effective assessment. Recent research conducted by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) has shown that schools are tailoring their assessment systems to provide support more effectively.The Commission on Assessment Without Levels is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/commission-on-assessment-without-levels. The Data Management Review Group is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reducing-teacher-workload-data-management-review-group-report.The Workload Advisory Group report: ‘Making data work’ is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-workload-advisory-group-report-and-government-response.The NFER research is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/approaches-to-assessment-without-levels-in-schools.Ofsted guidance on assessment is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Special Educational Needs

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance he provides to local authorities on the time they should take to make an Education, Health and Care needs assessment.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice sets out the statutory timescales and decision points for the process of education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment and plan development (paragraphs 9.39 to 9.44 in the attached document).The maximum time for the whole assessment process to be completed is 20 weeks. There are limited exceptions to this timescale, for example if exceptional personal circumstances affect the child or young person or their family, or if the child or young person is absent from the area for at least four weeks.



SEND_code_of_practice_January_2015
(PDF Document, 3.23 MB)

Social Services: Children

Mr George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were referred to children’s social care services in the last five years to 1 April 2018; and how much funding local authorities received to provide those services over that time period.

Nadhim Zahawi: The table below shows the number of children referred to children’s social care, England, 2013-14 to 2017-18:  2013-142014-152015-162016-172017-18Number of children referred570,790553,500547,330571,000581,280 Source: Characteristics of children in need: 2017 to 2018, Table A1, found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/characteristics-of-children-in-need-2017-to-2018. Funding made available to local authorities is largely not ring-fenced, enabling local authorities to target spending according to local needs.Over the five year period from 2015-16 to 2019-20 councils will have had access to more than £200 billion, after last month’s budget.At the Autumn Budget the government announced over £1 billion of extra funding for local authorities, this year and next, to help them deliver the services their communities need and support their most vulnerable residents.

Pupil Premium: Children in Care

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much was spent in each local authority on pupil premium plus in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18; and how much of that spending was on pupil premium plus for (i) looked after children, (ii) former looked after children who are on special guardianship orders, (iii) former looked after children who are on child arrangements orders and (iv) former looked after children who have been placed for adoption or adopted.

Nadhim Zahawi: The pupil premium plus funding, including both looked after and formerly looked after children for the relevant years, can be found in the published tables using the links below: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-2015-to-2016-allocations.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-conditions-of-grant-2016-to-2017.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-conditions-of-grant-2017-to-2018.

Ministry of Justice

Legal Aid Scheme

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people received legal aid for (a) divorce, (b) child custody, (c) clinical negligence, (d) welfare, (e) employment, (f) immigration, (h) housing, (i) debt, (j) benefit and (k) education cases in each year since 2010.

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many procurement areas have (a) zero or (b) one legal aid advice provider in the area of law related to (i) divorce, (ii) child custody, (iii) clinical negligence, (iv) welfare, (v) employment, (vi) immigration, (vii) housing, (viii) debt, (ix) benefits and (x) education.

Lucy Frazer: Holding answer received on 10 December 2018



The Ministry of Justice publishes statistics on behalf of the Legal Aid Agency at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/748562/legal-aid-statistics-tables-apr-jun-2018.ods, which show the number of matters completed each financial year, broken down by category of law. Please note that this data is not necessarily reflective of how many people have received legal aid in this time, as one person may be granted legal aid on more than one occasion.‘Divorce’ is not a separately-recorded type of case and therefore this information has been prepared as below. Please note that for Civil Representation these figures to legal aid awarded in that financial year, whereas for Legal Help this relates to when that matter was billed:Financial YearCivil Representation grantsLegal Help claims 2010-118,05390,436 2011-125,50283,350 2012-135,13172,037 2013-143,21256,791 2014-1536822,600 2015-162848,871 2016-17555,573 2017-18164,307197619: Procurement area boundaries are defined by the Legal Aid Agency according to their respective categories of law, and the relevant factors which are taken into account in respect of these. The different types of procurement area relate to the following categories: Family, Clinical Negligence, Welfare Benefits, Housing and Debt, and Immigration. Discrimination, education and employment advice is provided via the telephone service through the Civil Legal Advice scheme. All types of procurement area have at least two providers undertaking work in their respective categories, save for Housing and Debt, where nine procurement areas do not have a provider contracted for Housing and Debt services, and thirty four procurement areas have one provider offering such services.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2018 to Question 193444 Social Security Benefits: Appeals, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on improving social security decision making to reduce the number of cases progressing to a social security tribunal.

Lucy Frazer: Holding answer received on 10 December 2018



I have had two meetings with the Minister for Disabled People at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) regarding the importance of getting decisions right first time. Our officials are working together on how to use feedback from the Social Security & Child Support (SSCS) Tribunal judiciary. Another potential source of valuable insight is the DWP’s cohort of some 150 Presenting Officers, who present cases at the Tribunal for the Department.In addition, HMCTS are developing a new digital system which enables speedier processing of appeals and a better service for all parties to the proceedings. HMCTS are also introducing case-management “triage” sessions, with the aim of reducing the number of cases that progress to an oral hearing.

Full Sutton Prison

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on local traffic levels of the proposed Category C prison at Full Sutton; and if he will make a statement.

Rory Stewart: Holding answer received on 17 December 2018



The department remains committed to previously announced plans, subject to planning approvals, value for money and affordability, to build six category C modern prisons which, along with the reorganisation of the existing estate, will provide the physical conditions for Governors to achieve better educational, training and rehabilitative outcomes. A revised Outline Planning Application for a new, modern category C prison at Full Sutton has been submitted to East Riding of Yorkshire planning authority and documents making up the application, including a thorough Traffic Assessment (TA), will be publicly available on the local authority’s planning portal in the coming days. The conclusion of the new TA, revised from the original iteration to account for the increase in capacity, is that the highway network surrounding the new prison is expected to continue to operate within capacity during both the construction and operational phases. We will continue to engage with local stakeholders as we develop our plans for the new prison which forms a crucial part of the department’s commitment to deliver modern, safe and decent accommodation.

Young Offender Institutions: Prison Officers

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the average number of prison officers in each of the under-18 young offender institutions in each of the last five years.

Edward Argar: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 18 December 2018.The correct answer should have been:

HM Prison and Probation workforce statistics (which contains staffing figures in public sector prisons but not in privately managed prisons) are published quarterly. The figures are broken down by establishment and by prison category including male Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) for those aged 15-17. All staff working with children have to undergo an enhanced DBS check as part of the vetting process before taking up such roles. The latest publication can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hm-prison-and-probation-service-workforce-quarterly-september-2018 Attached are tables showing the staff numbers at YOIs and details on the numbers of those dismissed or disciplined. Values of 2 or fewer have not been included to avoid the possibility of identification of individuals and to prevent disclosure in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 1998. In relation to conduct and discipline cases this meant a breakdown of the reasons behind the actions could not be provided due to the very low numbers involved. Please also note that since June 2016 HMPPS has taken over the running of Medway Secure Training Centre and 151 FTE staff transferred in. In September 2017, 59 FTE staff transferred in to the newly created Youth Custody Service. All prison officers working in under 18 YOIs currently undergo a young person specific and child-centred Prison Officer Entry Level Training (POELT) course. This course incorporates both the Working with Young People in Custody (WYPC) course and Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint (MMPR) training elements. The structure of the 10 week course allows learners to understand the ethos, values, morals and ethics that are integral to working with young people. We are introducing a new Youth Justice Specialist role and are providing funding for every Prison Officer in the Youth Custody Service to undertake a distance-learning university-accredited qualification in youth justice so that they can transition them to this role. Supervising Officers will also be funded to undertake this training and transition to the new role on level transfer. All staff undertaking the qualification will be offered the opportunity to continue their study for another year to achieve a full foundation degree, fully-funded by the Youth Custody Service (YCS). There are over 300 frontline staff currently enrolled on this qualification and we will fund 250 places on this qualification per year for staff in the youth secure estate over the next four years. We intend for this to be the new standard training for frontline officers in the YCS by 2023 



Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 19.35 KB)

Edward Argar: HM Prison and Probation workforce statistics (which contains staffing figures in public sector prisons but not in privately managed prisons) are published quarterly. The figures are broken down by establishment and by prison category including male Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) for those aged 15-17. All staff working with children have to undergo an enhanced DBS check as part of the vetting process before taking up such roles. The latest publication can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hm-prison-and-probation-service-workforce-quarterly-september-2018 Attached are tables showing the staff numbers at YOIs and details on the numbers of those dismissed or disciplined. Values of 2 or fewer have not been included to avoid the possibility of identification of individuals and to prevent disclosure in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 1998. In relation to conduct and discipline cases this meant a breakdown of the reasons behind the actions could not be provided due to the very low numbers involved. Please also note that since June 2016 HMPPS has taken over the running of Medway Secure Training Centre and 151 FTE staff transferred in. In September 2017, 59 FTE staff transferred in to the newly created Youth Custody Service. All prison officers working in under 18 YOIs currently undergo a young person specific and child-centred Prison Officer Entry Level Training (POELT) course. This course incorporates both the Working with Young People in Custody (WYPC) course and Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint (MMPR) training elements. The structure of the 10 week course allows learners to understand the ethos, values, morals and ethics that are integral to working with young people. We are introducing a new Youth Justice Specialist role and are providing funding for every Prison Officer in the Youth Custody Service to undertake a distance-learning university-accredited qualification in youth justice so that they can transition them to this role. Supervising Officers will also be funded to undertake this training and transition to the new role on level transfer. All staff undertaking the qualification will be offered the opportunity to continue their study for another year to achieve a full foundation degree, fully-funded by the Youth Custody Service (YCS). There are over 300 frontline staff currently enrolled on this qualification and we will fund 250 places on this qualification per year for staff in the youth secure estate over the next four years. We intend for this to be the new standard training for frontline officers in the YCS by 2023 



Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 19.35 KB)

Prison Officers: Training

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what mandatory training is provided to prison officers working in under-18 young offender institutions; and what is distinctive about this training in comparison to that provided to officers working with adult prisoners.

Edward Argar: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 18 December 2018.The correct answer should have been:

HM Prison and Probation workforce statistics (which contains staffing figures in public sector prisons but not in privately managed prisons) are published quarterly. The figures are broken down by establishment and by prison category including male Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) for those aged 15-17. All staff working with children have to undergo an enhanced DBS check as part of the vetting process before taking up such roles. The latest publication can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hm-prison-and-probation-service-workforce-quarterly-september-2018 Attached are tables showing the staff numbers at YOIs and details on the numbers of those dismissed or disciplined. Values of 2 or fewer have not been included to avoid the possibility of identification of individuals and to prevent disclosure in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 1998. In relation to conduct and discipline cases this meant a breakdown of the reasons behind the actions could not be provided due to the very low numbers involved. Please also note that since June 2016 HMPPS has taken over the running of Medway Secure Training Centre and 151 FTE staff transferred in. In September 2017, 59 FTE staff transferred in to the newly created Youth Custody Service. All prison officers working in under 18 YOIs currently undergo a young person specific and child-centred Prison Officer Entry Level Training (POELT) course. This course incorporates both the Working with Young People in Custody (WYPC) course and Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint (MMPR) training elements. The structure of the 10 week course allows learners to understand the ethos, values, morals and ethics that are integral to working with young people. We are introducing a new Youth Justice Specialist role and are providing funding for every Prison Officer in the Youth Custody Service to undertake a distance-learning university-accredited qualification in youth justice so that they can transition them to this role. Supervising Officers will also be funded to undertake this training and transition to the new role on level transfer. All staff undertaking the qualification will be offered the opportunity to continue their study for another year to achieve a full foundation degree, fully-funded by the Youth Custody Service (YCS). There are over 300 frontline staff currently enrolled on this qualification and we will fund 250 places on this qualification per year for staff in the youth secure estate over the next four years. We intend for this to be the new standard training for frontline officers in the YCS by 2023 



Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 19.35 KB)

Edward Argar: HM Prison and Probation workforce statistics (which contains staffing figures in public sector prisons but not in privately managed prisons) are published quarterly. The figures are broken down by establishment and by prison category including male Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) for those aged 15-17. All staff working with children have to undergo an enhanced DBS check as part of the vetting process before taking up such roles. The latest publication can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hm-prison-and-probation-service-workforce-quarterly-september-2018 Attached are tables showing the staff numbers at YOIs and details on the numbers of those dismissed or disciplined. Values of 2 or fewer have not been included to avoid the possibility of identification of individuals and to prevent disclosure in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 1998. In relation to conduct and discipline cases this meant a breakdown of the reasons behind the actions could not be provided due to the very low numbers involved. Please also note that since June 2016 HMPPS has taken over the running of Medway Secure Training Centre and 151 FTE staff transferred in. In September 2017, 59 FTE staff transferred in to the newly created Youth Custody Service. All prison officers working in under 18 YOIs currently undergo a young person specific and child-centred Prison Officer Entry Level Training (POELT) course. This course incorporates both the Working with Young People in Custody (WYPC) course and Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint (MMPR) training elements. The structure of the 10 week course allows learners to understand the ethos, values, morals and ethics that are integral to working with young people. We are introducing a new Youth Justice Specialist role and are providing funding for every Prison Officer in the Youth Custody Service to undertake a distance-learning university-accredited qualification in youth justice so that they can transition them to this role. Supervising Officers will also be funded to undertake this training and transition to the new role on level transfer. All staff undertaking the qualification will be offered the opportunity to continue their study for another year to achieve a full foundation degree, fully-funded by the Youth Custody Service (YCS). There are over 300 frontline staff currently enrolled on this qualification and we will fund 250 places on this qualification per year for staff in the youth secure estate over the next four years. We intend for this to be the new standard training for frontline officers in the YCS by 2023 



Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 19.35 KB)

Prison Officers: Vetting

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the proportion of prison officers working in each of the under-18 young offender institutions that have undergone a DBS enhanced check.

Edward Argar: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 18 December 2018.The correct answer should have been:

HM Prison and Probation workforce statistics (which contains staffing figures in public sector prisons but not in privately managed prisons) are published quarterly. The figures are broken down by establishment and by prison category including male Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) for those aged 15-17. All staff working with children have to undergo an enhanced DBS check as part of the vetting process before taking up such roles. The latest publication can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hm-prison-and-probation-service-workforce-quarterly-september-2018 Attached are tables showing the staff numbers at YOIs and details on the numbers of those dismissed or disciplined. Values of 2 or fewer have not been included to avoid the possibility of identification of individuals and to prevent disclosure in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 1998. In relation to conduct and discipline cases this meant a breakdown of the reasons behind the actions could not be provided due to the very low numbers involved. Please also note that since June 2016 HMPPS has taken over the running of Medway Secure Training Centre and 151 FTE staff transferred in. In September 2017, 59 FTE staff transferred in to the newly created Youth Custody Service. All prison officers working in under 18 YOIs currently undergo a young person specific and child-centred Prison Officer Entry Level Training (POELT) course. This course incorporates both the Working with Young People in Custody (WYPC) course and Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint (MMPR) training elements. The structure of the 10 week course allows learners to understand the ethos, values, morals and ethics that are integral to working with young people. We are introducing a new Youth Justice Specialist role and are providing funding for every Prison Officer in the Youth Custody Service to undertake a distance-learning university-accredited qualification in youth justice so that they can transition them to this role. Supervising Officers will also be funded to undertake this training and transition to the new role on level transfer. All staff undertaking the qualification will be offered the opportunity to continue their study for another year to achieve a full foundation degree, fully-funded by the Youth Custody Service (YCS). There are over 300 frontline staff currently enrolled on this qualification and we will fund 250 places on this qualification per year for staff in the youth secure estate over the next four years. We intend for this to be the new standard training for frontline officers in the YCS by 2023 



Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 19.35 KB)

Edward Argar: HM Prison and Probation workforce statistics (which contains staffing figures in public sector prisons but not in privately managed prisons) are published quarterly. The figures are broken down by establishment and by prison category including male Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) for those aged 15-17. All staff working with children have to undergo an enhanced DBS check as part of the vetting process before taking up such roles. The latest publication can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hm-prison-and-probation-service-workforce-quarterly-september-2018 Attached are tables showing the staff numbers at YOIs and details on the numbers of those dismissed or disciplined. Values of 2 or fewer have not been included to avoid the possibility of identification of individuals and to prevent disclosure in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 1998. In relation to conduct and discipline cases this meant a breakdown of the reasons behind the actions could not be provided due to the very low numbers involved. Please also note that since June 2016 HMPPS has taken over the running of Medway Secure Training Centre and 151 FTE staff transferred in. In September 2017, 59 FTE staff transferred in to the newly created Youth Custody Service. All prison officers working in under 18 YOIs currently undergo a young person specific and child-centred Prison Officer Entry Level Training (POELT) course. This course incorporates both the Working with Young People in Custody (WYPC) course and Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint (MMPR) training elements. The structure of the 10 week course allows learners to understand the ethos, values, morals and ethics that are integral to working with young people. We are introducing a new Youth Justice Specialist role and are providing funding for every Prison Officer in the Youth Custody Service to undertake a distance-learning university-accredited qualification in youth justice so that they can transition them to this role. Supervising Officers will also be funded to undertake this training and transition to the new role on level transfer. All staff undertaking the qualification will be offered the opportunity to continue their study for another year to achieve a full foundation degree, fully-funded by the Youth Custody Service (YCS). There are over 300 frontline staff currently enrolled on this qualification and we will fund 250 places on this qualification per year for staff in the youth secure estate over the next four years. We intend for this to be the new standard training for frontline officers in the YCS by 2023 



Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 19.35 KB)

Prison Officers: Disciplinary Proceedings

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of prison officers in each of the under-18 young offender institutions that were dismissed or disciplined in each of the last five years; and for what reasons was each of those dismissed or disciplined.

Edward Argar: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 18 December 2018.The correct answer should have been:

HM Prison and Probation workforce statistics (which contains staffing figures in public sector prisons but not in privately managed prisons) are published quarterly. The figures are broken down by establishment and by prison category including male Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) for those aged 15-17. All staff working with children have to undergo an enhanced DBS check as part of the vetting process before taking up such roles. The latest publication can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hm-prison-and-probation-service-workforce-quarterly-september-2018 Attached are tables showing the staff numbers at YOIs and details on the numbers of those dismissed or disciplined. Values of 2 or fewer have not been included to avoid the possibility of identification of individuals and to prevent disclosure in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 1998. In relation to conduct and discipline cases this meant a breakdown of the reasons behind the actions could not be provided due to the very low numbers involved. Please also note that since June 2016 HMPPS has taken over the running of Medway Secure Training Centre and 151 FTE staff transferred in. In September 2017, 59 FTE staff transferred in to the newly created Youth Custody Service. All prison officers working in under 18 YOIs currently undergo a young person specific and child-centred Prison Officer Entry Level Training (POELT) course. This course incorporates both the Working with Young People in Custody (WYPC) course and Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint (MMPR) training elements. The structure of the 10 week course allows learners to understand the ethos, values, morals and ethics that are integral to working with young people. We are introducing a new Youth Justice Specialist role and are providing funding for every Prison Officer in the Youth Custody Service to undertake a distance-learning university-accredited qualification in youth justice so that they can transition them to this role. Supervising Officers will also be funded to undertake this training and transition to the new role on level transfer. All staff undertaking the qualification will be offered the opportunity to continue their study for another year to achieve a full foundation degree, fully-funded by the Youth Custody Service (YCS). There are over 300 frontline staff currently enrolled on this qualification and we will fund 250 places on this qualification per year for staff in the youth secure estate over the next four years. We intend for this to be the new standard training for frontline officers in the YCS by 2023 



Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 19.35 KB)

Edward Argar: HM Prison and Probation workforce statistics (which contains staffing figures in public sector prisons but not in privately managed prisons) are published quarterly. The figures are broken down by establishment and by prison category including male Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) for those aged 15-17. All staff working with children have to undergo an enhanced DBS check as part of the vetting process before taking up such roles. The latest publication can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hm-prison-and-probation-service-workforce-quarterly-september-2018 Attached are tables showing the staff numbers at YOIs and details on the numbers of those dismissed or disciplined. Values of 2 or fewer have not been included to avoid the possibility of identification of individuals and to prevent disclosure in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 1998. In relation to conduct and discipline cases this meant a breakdown of the reasons behind the actions could not be provided due to the very low numbers involved. Please also note that since June 2016 HMPPS has taken over the running of Medway Secure Training Centre and 151 FTE staff transferred in. In September 2017, 59 FTE staff transferred in to the newly created Youth Custody Service. All prison officers working in under 18 YOIs currently undergo a young person specific and child-centred Prison Officer Entry Level Training (POELT) course. This course incorporates both the Working with Young People in Custody (WYPC) course and Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint (MMPR) training elements. The structure of the 10 week course allows learners to understand the ethos, values, morals and ethics that are integral to working with young people. We are introducing a new Youth Justice Specialist role and are providing funding for every Prison Officer in the Youth Custody Service to undertake a distance-learning university-accredited qualification in youth justice so that they can transition them to this role. Supervising Officers will also be funded to undertake this training and transition to the new role on level transfer. All staff undertaking the qualification will be offered the opportunity to continue their study for another year to achieve a full foundation degree, fully-funded by the Youth Custody Service (YCS). There are over 300 frontline staff currently enrolled on this qualification and we will fund 250 places on this qualification per year for staff in the youth secure estate over the next four years. We intend for this to be the new standard training for frontline officers in the YCS by 2023 



Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 19.35 KB)

Prisons: CCTV

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many CCTV cameras there are in each category (a) A and (b) B prison.

Rory Stewart: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Prisons: CCTV

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the average proportion of space accessible to prisoners which is covered by CCTV camera in each category (a) A and (b) B prison.

Rory Stewart: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Travellers: Human Rights

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to protect the rights of Gypsies, Travellers and Roma in his Department's response to the consultation on powers for dealing with unauthorised development.

Lucy Frazer: Government departments have an ongoing responsibility to meet the Public Sector Equalities Duty (PSED) under the Equality Act 2010. When formulating policy following consultation, ministers must have due regard to achieving the objectives of eliminating discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Act; advancing equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not; and fostering good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. The Ministry of Justice will work with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Home Office to agree policy proposals for dealing with unauthorised development and encampments.

Prisons: CCTV

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of installing and upgrading CCTV cameras across the prison estate in each of the last five years in each category (a) A and (b) B prison.

Rory Stewart: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Young Offenders: Communication Skills

Rebecca Pow: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has taken steps to (a) ensure that all practitioners who work in the youth justice system are trained in recognising and responding appropriately to communication needs and (b) develop a referral pathway for youth offenders to access speech and language therapy.

Edward Argar: Young people with speech and language difficulties are particularly vulnerable, and we are seeking to ensure that those who work with children and young people in areas with a high prevalence of speech, language and communication needs, are trained in recognising and responding appropriately to these needs. We offered free, national training for Youth Justice professionals over the last three years, supporting them to identify children’s special educational and disability needs and to deliver effective engagement and positive long-term outcomes. To ensure robust referral pathways throughout the youth justice system, the YJB have developed a screening tool which provides a holistic assessment and intervention plan that can be used in a variety of settings. In custody, NHS England screen and assess every child for neurodisabilities using the Comprehensive Health Assessment Tool (CHAT), and put in place an individual care plan. Education providers are also required to assess educational needs and provide appropriate support.

Social Security Benefits: Stockport

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2018 to Question 198269 on Social Security Benefits: Stockport, for what reason his Department only provided figures for the years (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15; and if his Department will provide figures for the years (i) 2015-16, (ii) 2016-17 and (iii) 2017-18.

Lucy Frazer: As set out in the Answer to Question 198269, the data requested for the years 2015-16 to 2017-18 are published at www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics. Within that link is a further link: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognition-certificate-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2018.  The data requested are provided further down that page at Tribunal Statistics CSV (April to June 2018) (zip file).

Department for International Trade

Overseas Trade: Brazil

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he is taking to increase the level of bilateral trade with Brazil.

Graham Stuart: The UK remains committed to our deep relationships with our global partners, including Brazil. In March 2018, my Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade co-chaired the tenth UK-Brazil Joint Economic and Trade Committee with the Brazilian Minister for Industry, Foreign Trade and Services. The ministers reiterated their commitment to facilitating increased trade, creating opportunities and enhancing bilateral economic relations. In August 2018, the 3rd UK-Brazil Economic and Financial Dialogue achieved advances across several areas including procurement, tax, infrastructure and finance. More detail can be found in the Joint Statements from the Economic Finance Dialogue (https://bit.ly/2BsVW43) and Joint Economic Trade Committee (https://bit.ly/2STWp6n). DIT continues to promote the closest trading links with Brazil. We support businesses to export to Brazil across a range of key sectors including financial services, energy, education, mining, life sciences, infrastructure and advanced engineering amongst others.

UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation: Staff

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many staff the Defence and Security Organisation employed as of 1 April 2018; and what that organisation's 2018-19 budget is.

Graham Stuart: At 1 April 2018, the Department for International Trade had a total workforce of 155 in the Defence and Security Organisation. Its current net budget for 2018-19 is £9.9m.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Building Regulations and Fire Safety Independent Review

Karen Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety: final report, published in May 2018, what the timescale is for the implementation of the recommendations in that report.

Karen Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government,  with reference to the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety: final report, published in May 2018,, which recommendations from that report his Department plans to implement.

Kit Malthouse: I refer the Hon Member to the statement made on 18 December 2018 by the Secretary of State (HCWS1201).

Buildings: Insulation

Karen Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Government Procurement Agreement, published in 29 November 2018, which types of combustible cladding are included in the ban on the use of combustible materials announced in that press release.

Kit Malthouse: The ban on combustible materials will apply to external walls in new buildings, or those undergoing building work, which have a storey at least 18 metres above ground level and contain one or more dwellings, an institution, or a room for residential purposes (excluding any room in a hostel, hotel or a boarding house). It requires that all materials which become part of an external wall or specified attachment achieve European Class A2-s1, d0 or Class A1, other than those parts exempted by Regulation 7(3).

Housing: Contruction

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much has been disbursed on the land assembly fund since its announcement in Autumn Budget 2017.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 17 December 2018



My Department has recently agreed with the Greater London Authority that it will manage delivery of the Land Assembly Fund across Greater London and has a budget this year of £33.8 million. Outside of the capital Homes England have spent £152 million in 2017/18 and £40 million in 2018/19 on land assembly for this financial year to the month of November from re-purposed Starter Homes Land Fund budget. Homes England is on track to deliver against its capital budget this financial year.

Housing: Construction

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, the total sum spent by his Department on the home building fund.

James Brokenshire: The £4.5 billion Home Building Fund provides short term and long term loan finance to build the homes this country needs. Since the fund was launched, a total of £2.2 billion has been allocated to successful applicants.£986 million of the initial £1 billion funding, specifically allocated to support small and medium sized Builders, custom builders and innovators who cannot access the finance they need to build, has been contracted and is expected to deliver 45,554 starts. An additional £1.5 billion was therefore allocated to the Fund in the Autumn 2017 budget to help meet the continuing demand for the Fund£1.2 billion of the £2 billion allocated for delivering infrastructure and site preparation for homes, including on brown field land has been contracted and expected to unlock 105,568 housing capacity units.

Association of Composite Door Manufacturers

Emma Dent Coad: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for building safety of making the Association of Composite Door Manufacturers the governing body of the composite door industry with the stated aim of promoting the use of composite doors.

Kit Malthouse: MHCLG are working with the Association of Composite Door Manufacturers (ACDM) as industry representatives to raise standards through Industry-led action. No changes have been made to the status of ACDM by the Department. The Department understand any change to ACDM's stated purpose is a voluntary action being taken by its members.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Flags

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 6 December 2018 to Question 196168 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Flags, if his Department will fly county flags on annual county days at its Marsham Street building from the start of 2019.

James Brokenshire: I refer the Hon Member to my answer to Question UIN 196168 on 6 December 2018.

High Rise Flats: Fire Extinguishers

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many local authorities have contacted his Department to request financial support or flexibility for the retrofitting of sprinklers in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding per council the Government has provided for the retrofitting of sprinklers in the most recent period for which figures are available; and if he will list the councils that have received such funding.

Kit Malthouse: In May, the Prime Minister announced that the Government would fully fund the removal and replacement of unsafe Aluminium Composite Material cladding systems on social residential buildings 18 metres and over owned by councils and housing associations. MHCLG is allocating £248 million to replace cladding on 135 buildings.We will also provide financial flexibilities for local authorities who need to undertake other essential fire safety work, including retrofitting sprinklers where these are considered to be essential, but the Government is not providing funding for this work. Forty-four local authorities have contacted the department to discuss their options for funding fire safety work, including sprinklers, for buildings they own. To date none have opted to take advantage of the flexibilities available.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) private sector and (b) social sector high-rise buildings where (i) aluminium composite material cladding has been removed in the last 12 months and (ii) removal of that cladding is planned by March 2019.

Kit Malthouse: This information is currently published in the Building Safety Programme monthly data release.160 social sector and 272 private sector high-rise residential buildings with combinations of Aluminium Composite Material cladding and insulation which are unlikely to meet current building regulations have been identified since June 2017. Of these buildings, 34 social sector and 29 private sector buildings have been fully remediated – as of 30 November 2018. Remediation work has started for a further 82 Social sector buildings, 18 Private sector buildings, and 2 other publicly-owned buildings (one school and one hospital). Additionally, remediation plans are in place for 41 social sector buildings, 108 private sector buildings, and 5 publicly-owned buildings.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the use of expanded polystyrene insulation in external wall insulation systems on new high-rise residential buildings is still permitted under Fire safety Approved Document B as amended in November 2018.

Kit Malthouse: The ban on combustible materials will apply to external walls in new buildings, or those undergoing building work, which have a storey at least 18 metres above ground level and contain one or more dwellings, an institution, or a room for residential purposes (excluding any room in a hostel, hotel or a boarding house). It requires that all materials which become part of an external wall or specified attachment achieve European Class A2-s1, d0 or Class A1, other than those components which are exempted. We are not aware of any expanded polystyrene insulation products that would meet the Class A2-S1, d0 or Class A1 classifications and insulation materials are not exempted from this requirement. As such, current polystyrene insulation products could not be used in buildings within scope of the ban.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department considered the safety implications of the production of toxic smoke in determining the scope of the ban on combustible materials.

Kit Malthouse: The Government has used the European system for classifying the combustibility of materials to set the threshold for the ban on the use of combustible materials in the external walls of buildings covered by the ban. The European classification system measures smoke obscuration, though not toxicity. The ban requires that all materials which become part of an external wall or specified attachment achieve European Class A2-s1, d0 or Class A1, other than those covered by exemptions. This means that materials are classified by smoke production as well as combustibility and production of droplets. These classifications impose the maximum possible restriction on smoke production.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the health and safety risks of toxic smoke from cladding, insulation and other building materials in fires in (a) schools and (b) hospitals.

Kit Malthouse: The Government has used the European system for classifying the combustibility of materials to set the threshold for the ban on the use of combustible materials in the external walls of buildings covered by the ban. The European classification system measures smoke obscuration, though not toxicity. The ban requires that all materials which become part of an external wall or specified attachment achieve European Class A2-s1, d0 or Class A1, other than those covered by exemptions. This means that materials are classified by smoke production as well as combustibility and production of droplets. These classifications impose the maximum possible restriction on smoke production.In addition, the Department for Education has also committed to ensuring that new school buildings, over 18 metres, built as part of their centrally delivered build programmes will not use combustibles materials in the external walls, in line with the terms of the ban.The Department for Education’s guidance on schools (BB100) and guidance provided to NHS (Firecode) on fire safety contains detailed information on how to control the risks of fire and its associated hazards, by prevention, containment, and alert.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2018 to Question 183490, what the planned timetable is for the public consultation on the design of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund; and when he plans to publish that consultation document.

Jake Berry: We intend to consult on the design of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund shortly and recognise the importance of gaining evidence from all interested parties and welcome their input during this process.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the number of high-rise buildings with non-aluminium composite material cladding or insulation that would emit toxic smoke during a fire.

Kit Malthouse: The Department does not hold a comprehensive record of the number of high-rise buildings with non - Aluminium Composite Material cladding.

Homelessness

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will list the last 10 occasions on which his Department has responded to a request for a comment from the media on homelessness; and what his Department's response was on each such occasion.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: On Thursday 13 and Friday 14 December my Department received 10 requests for comment from the media on homeless, which were responded to as follows.The Department provided the following statement to requests from 6 media outlets, and one further media outlet requesting an interview or statement in response to a report from Crisis on the numbers of rough sleepers in Britain:Heather Wheeler MP, Minister for Housing and Homelessness said: “It is simply unacceptable that anyone has to sleep on the streets which is why we have set out bold plans backed by £1.2 billion to tackle all forms of homelessness, including our £100 million Rough Sleeping Strategy. This is already making a difference through additional bed spaces and support workers and new legislation means people at risk are getting the help they need more quickly. But we know more needs to be done to end rough sleeping for good and are committed to work with partners like Crisis to do just that.”Further, the Department provided the following statement to requests from 3 media outlets in response to the publication of experimental homelessness statistics:Heather Wheeler MP, Minister for Housing & Homelessness said: “Everyone deserves a safe and secure place to live. It is good to see our Homeless Reduction Act making a real difference but we know we need to do more. “That is why we are investing £1.2 billion to tackle all forms of homelessness, we are putting £9 billion into our affordable housing programme and we are also empowering councils to borrow to build more council homes to ensure that more people have a home of their own.”This information was compiled on Friday 14 December.

Ministry of Defence

Nigeria: Visits Abroad

Will Quince: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the outcomes were of his visit to Nigeria in November 2018 to (a) promote women, peace and security and (b) invest in counter-IED equipment.

Gavin Williamson: The UK and Nigeria share a deep and long-standing Defence Partnership. During my visit I was able to explore the challenges that our Nigerian partners are facing and understand better how the UK might assist further in tackling the insidious and pervasive threat posed by violent extremist organisations in the north east. Promoting the UK Defence contribution to Women, Peace, and Security was central to the visit, and I was able to meet with non-government organisations and better understand the particular impact of the conflict on women and girls. The UK will continue to work with the Nigerian Armed Forces to promote Women, Peace and Security through training, advisory support, and sharing of experience. I also witnessed first-hand some of the world class training in countering the threat from improvised explosive devices being delivered by British military personnel to their Nigerian counterparts, and I was pleased to be able to gift a range of specialist Counter-Improvised Explosive Device equipment worth c£775,000 to the Nigerian Army to help them in their fight against terrorism, by tackling terrorism abroad we can better protect our security at home.

Yemen: Ports

Mr Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment the Government has made of the effect of military action on port operations at Hodeidah, Yemen.

Mark Lancaster: The port of Hodeidah is vital for Yemen. Together with the port of Al-Saleef it accounts for 80 per cent of all imports into Yemen, a country that relies on imports to meet 90 per cent of its basic needs such as food and fuel. There are no other ports in Yemen that can handle such volumes of imports.The recent Houthi offensive has mainly affected the outskirts of the city of Hodeidah and has not damaged port infrastructure. However, it has reduced the availability of safe transit corridors and storage facilities for commercial and humanitarian goods leaving the port for major population centres in Yemen. Reduced levels of imports and damage to distribution networks has severely limited access to food and medicines for Yemeni citizens.Only safe, rapid, and unhindered commercial and humanitarian access to the Red Sea ports of Hodeidah and Al-Saleef will ensure that millions of Yemenis in the north of the country receive the vital supplies of fuel, food, and medicine they desperately need.The Government continues to raise concerns with the Saudi led-Coalition about the potential impact of any assault on the port and city of Hodeidah. We also continue to make clear that any military operations must be conducted in accordance with international humanitarian law, and not disrupt commercial and humanitarian flows.Since 2016, the Government has been a strong supporter of the peace talks between the Government of Yemen and the Houthis; the first round concluded on 13 December 2018 with some significant progress including an agreement for the redeployment of forces away from the city and port of Hodeidah. If successful, this should help enable increased flows of vital humanitarian and commercial supplies to the Yemeni population.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles: Procurement

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of a competition for the Mechanised Infantry Vehicle.

Stuart Andrew: The Ministry of Defence conducted a comprehensive market analysis of the Mechanised Infantry Vehicle options before announcing its intent to re-join the BOXER programme, via OCCAR. Although securing a better deal via competition is considered highly unlikely, this remains the fall back option.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles: Procurement

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when his Department expects to receive Artec’s proposal for the purchase of the Boxer vehicle; and what the planned timetable is for his Department’s assessment of that proposal.

Stuart Andrew: The assessment phase, concluding in 2019, will consider the benefits of manufacturing locations and different supply chains for Boxer, as well as value for money. Any deal will be subject to commercial negotiation and assessment.

France and Germany: Tanks

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Government’s of (a) France and (b) Germany on a Main Ground Combat System.

Stuart Andrew: Ministry of Defence (MOD) officials and I have met with Ministers and officials from Germany and France several times over the past three months where the topic of a Main Ground Combat System has been raised, as well as a UK MOD delegation being present at the Main Ground Combat System Information Conference held in Berlin on 14 November 2018.

Ministry of Defence: Space Growth Partnership

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent (a) meetings and (b) discussions he has had with representatives of the Space Growth Partnership.

Stuart Andrew: None. In the period December 2017 to December 2018, the Secretary of State for Defence has not had any meetings or discussions with representatives of the Space Growth Partnership.

Ministry of Defence: Procurement

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on his Department's procurement programmes that have not yet reached Main Gate.

Stuart Andrew: The Government is undertaking a wide range of analysis in support of our EU exit negotiations and preparations. Within Defence, the majority of this work relates to existing commitments, equipment and personnel. Investment decisions (including procurements) are being supported by the standard Defence approvals processes.

Defence: Space Technology

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 11 October 2018 to Question 176122 on Defence: Space Technology, whether he still plans to publish the Defence Space Strategy by the end of the year.

Stuart Andrew: The strategy will be published in early 2019.

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit: Cancer

Faisal Rashid: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to make it easier for cancer patients undergoing treatment in hospital to claim universal credit.

Sarah Newton: A claimant in hospital, regardless of their condition, has a range of options open to them to support them through their Universal Credit claim if they are unable to complete it themselves online. Those claimants who are unable to claim online are able to make their claim by telephone and in exceptional circumstances, a hospital visit may be considered. During this visit, the visiting officer will support the claimant to make a telephony claim. If the claimant requires a hospital visit, the date of the claim will be the date of first contact, even if the claimant is not actually able to complete the claim on that same day. In cases in which the claimant is unable to manage their own affairs due to mental incapability or severe physical disability an appointee can be agreed to act on behalf of the claimant in all interactions with the Department. All claimants receive continuous tailored support through their personal work coaches and all DWP staff in customer facing roles receive training on supporting claimants that report a health condition or disability, including those claimants who report a terminal illness. The Department are committed to ensuring that terminally ill patients are treated with sensitivity and care and receive the support they need to make a claim to Universal Credit. In addition, staff can use our District Provision Tool to signpost claimants to relevant information about local support services. This digital tool lists local and national provision and support delivered by Jobcentre Plus, Skills Funding Agency, Skills Development Scotland, Careers Wales, other providers, local authorities, and independent and volunteer organisations.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Sandy Martin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the public purse has been of work done so far by the Independent Case Examiner on individual cases brought on the grounds of unjust treatment of women approaching pension age which have now been closed in response to the current Judicial Review of her Department's handling of the changes to women's pension age.

Guy Opperman: Individual government departments have long established complaints procedures. That approach has not changed under Labour governments 1997-2010 or successive governments. The DWP has a two tier complaints process which considers formal complaints about our service. Once a complainant has exhausted the DWP complaint process they are signposted to the Independent Case Examiner’s Office if they are dissatisfied with the final response to their complaint. The Independent Case Examiner is independent. The Independent Case Examiner’s Office cost per case, which is currently £2,374, covers the whole process from receipt to investigation conclusion. The information requested relating to the total cost of work done is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Peat Bogs

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Government plans to publish its Peat Strategy.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The England Peat Strategy will be published in 2019.

Water Companies

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many enforcement actions the Environment Agency has taken against each water company in England in each of the last 10 years; and of those enforcement actions how many resulted in financial sanctions against the water company.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Environment Agency uses prosecutions, civil sanctions, formal cautions, enforcement notices and warning letters as enforcement actions against water companies. Information on financial sanctions resulting from prosecutions against water companies is provided in the attached table. It is not possible to collate data on formal cautions, enforcement notices and warning letters against each water company in England in each of the last 10 years in the time available.Enforcement Undertakings (EUs) are a civil sanction and constitute a voluntary offer made by offenders, containing actions to address the cause and effect of their offending. The Environment Agency is increasingly using EUs for suitable cases to restore or enhance the environment, improve practices of the offending business and ensure future compliance with environmental requirements.The Environment Agency has accepted Enforcement Undertakings from the following water companies for environmental offences: CompanyNumber of Enforcement Undertakings (2014 – )Amount raised for environmental projects (£)Anglian Water Services Limited9 560000Northumbrian Water Limited6 912000Seven Trent Water limited0 N/ASouthern Water Limited0 N/ASouth West Water Limited2 89900Thames Water Utilities Limited4 759000United Utilities Water Limited6 935650Wessex Water Services Limited5 1301000Yorkshire Water Limited1 200000

Water Companies

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many investigations Ofwat has undertaken into each water company in England and Wales in each of the last 10 years; and how many of those investigations resulted in a water company receiving a financial penalty.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Ofwat has undertaken eleven enforcement investigations since 2008, and imposed a total of £65.8 million in financial penalties, for issues including leakage and poor customer service. In some cases, Ofwat has also negotiated a total of £192 million in compensation for customers through bill reductions, and £92 million in donations to charities and community projects. Company YearFinancial penalty / compensation to customers or donations to charities Thames Water2018£1 financial penalty.£120 million refunded to customers.£7 million donation to charities.Thames Water2014£1 financial penalty.£79 million refunded to customers.£7 million donation to charities.Southern Water2011£5 million refund to customersVeolia Water2008£0.94 million refund to customers.£2.5 million donation to charities.Veolia Water2008£42,000 financial penalty.Severn Trent Water2008£35.8 million financial penalty.Severn Trent Water2008£42 million refunded to customers.£5 million donation to charity.Thames Water2008£9.7 million financial penalty.Southern Water2008£20.3 million financial penalty.

Chemicals: Registration

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance his Department has published on the steps that chemical manufacturers will be required to take to register their products with the EU in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: On 24 September we published the Regulating chemicals (REACH) if there’s no Brexit deal technical notice. This set out the Government’s contingency plans for regulation with the aim of minimising disruption at the point of exit, and provided information for businesses which need to prepare for a no-deal scenario. Building on this, we published UK REACH additional guidance if there is no Brexit deal on 4 December. This detailed guidance set out the actions businesses would need to take in a no-deal EU exit for a number of scenarios. Only ECHA can provide detailed guidance on registrations for access to the EU market on a no deal scenario but we ensured both the technical notice and additional guidance provided a clear link to the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) ‘no-deal’ guidance. The current ECHA guidance outlines an intended mechanism by which UK companies can transfer their registrations to EU based entities in order to maintain uninterrupted EU market access. ECHA have said they will provide further detail in January 2019. We are continuing to encourage it to provide further clarity to enable UK companies to prepare.

Air Pollution: Norfolk

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to monitor air pollution in Norfolk.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government uses a combination of monitoring and modelling to assess air quality. The Environment Agency (EA) manages the UK's national monitoring sites on behalf of Defra and the Devolved Administrations. There are around 300 EA managed monitoring sites in total across the UK, which monitor air quality, including at Norwich and Weybourne. In addition, local authorities are required to review and assess local air quality, which includes monitoring. Defra provides calculation tools to support local authorities in their monitoring and modelling efforts. Positioning of local monitors is expected to be in line with national and local priorities, which may include schools and other locations where there is high risk of public exposure to air pollutants.

Home Office

Drugs: Festivals and Special Occasions

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps his Department has taken to provide police forces with guidance on the legality of drug safety testing at music festivals.

Victoria Atkins: Drugs are controlled where there is scientific and medical evidence that they are harmful to health and society. The possession of any amount of a controlled drug is a criminal offence and the supply of a controlled drug is an even more serious offence. No illegal drug-taking can be assumed to be safe and there is no safe way to take them.The Government’s approach remains clear: we must prevent illicit drug use in our communities and help those dependent on drugs to recover while ensuring our drug laws are enforced. In relation to drug testing at events, chief constables are responsible for operational decisions in their local area and we are not standing in their way.The National Policing Lead for Drugs provided updated advice in the summer to all Chief Constables to make them aware of matters that they should consider if working with event organisers who may wish to use drug testing services. He is currently considering this issue further in conjunction with forces and will produce further advice for police forces in the spring.

Detainees: Medical Examinations

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were referred for assessment under Rule 35 of the Detention Centre Rules 2001 in each month of 2018 up to 2 July 2018.

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been referred for assessment under Rule 35 of the Detention Centre Rules 2001 in each month in 2018 since 2 July 2018.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office do not hold central records of the number of individuals in Immigration detention that are referred for, or that self-refer for Rule 35 assessments.Medical records for individuals in Immigration detention are confidential and are not routinely shared with the Home Office unless the individual has consented to share this information. This includes appointments and assessments with a medical practitioner. Notification of Rule 35 assessments, which are carried out by Doctors, are therefore not routinely shared with the Home Office.The Home Office do however, centrally record the number of Rule 35 reports raised by Doctors under the Detention Centre Rules 2001. This information is published quarterly in Immigration Enforcement Transparency data found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-enforcement-data-november-2018.

Detainees: Medical Examinations

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people referred for assessment under Rule 35 of Detention Centre Rules 2001 during each of the first six months in 2018 were identified as victims of torture by a Rule 35 report.

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people identified as a victim of torture by a Rule 35 report were subsequently released within 28 days of that report being made in each of the first six months of 2018.

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people referred for assessment under Rule 35 of the Detention Centre Rules 2001 as amended by Detention Centre Rules (Amendment) 2018 were identified as being victims of torture in each month since 2 July 2018.

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people in immigration detention identified as a victim of torture by an assessment under Rule 35 of Detention Centre Rules 2001 as amended by the Detention Centre Rules (Amendment) 2018 were subsequently released within 28 days of the Rule 35 report being made in each month since 2 July 2018.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office do not hold central records of the number of individuals in Immigration detention that are referred for, or that self-refer for Rule 35 assessments. Medical records for individuals in Immigration detention are confidential and are not routinely shared with the Home Office unless the individual has consented to share this information. This includes appointments and assessments with a medical practitioner. Notification of Rule 35 assessments, which are carried out by Doctors, are therefore not routinely shared with the Home Office.The Home Office also do not hold central records which make the distinc-tion between those accepted/not accepted as being victims of torture within the Rule 35 process under the Detention Centre Rules 2001.We therefore cannot currently report on the number of individuals referred for a Rule 35 assessment that were identified as victims of torture, or the number of individuals identified as victims of torture that were released within 28 days of a Rule 35 report without reviewing individual cases. In any event, it cannot be said that those released within 28 days of a Rule 35 report were released solely because of a claim of torture.The Home Office do however, centrally record the number of Rule 35 re-ports raised by Doctors under the Detention Centre Rules 2001 and the number of those who were released as a result. This information is pub-lished quarterly in Immigration Enforcement Transparency data found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-enforcement-data-november-2018.

Immigrants: Detainees

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans he has to assess the effect of the Detention Centre Rules (Amendment) 2018 on victims of torture in immigration detention centres.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office keeps its policies and processes relating to immigration detention and the detention of vulnerable persons under regular review to ensure they are both appropriate and effective.As part of the Government’s response to Stephen Shaw’s review into the welfare of vulnerable people in detention, the Home Office is looking at improvements to the rule 35 consideration process to ensure that the most vulnerable and complex cases get the attention they need, while preventing abuse of this important safeguard.

Immigrants: Detainees

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children who have (a) permanent residence, (b) indefinite leave to remain and (c) British citizenship have a parent detained for immigration purposes.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average length of residency in the UK is for people who are detained for immigration purposes.

Caroline Nokes: Providing the information requested would require a manual check of individual records which could only be done at disproportionate cost.

Immigrants: Detainees

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many referrals to the National Referral Mechanism for those who are detained for immigration purposes there have been; and how many of those referred were (a) released and (b) kept in detention.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office record the number of all individuals referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) and this information is published Quarterly by the National Crime Agency, found at http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/national-referral-mechanism-statistics.This information does not distinguish between those detained under immigration powers and those living in the community. The reason for this is two-fold, firstly because the NRM referral is not an immigration route by which individuals should regularise their stay in the United Kingdom and secondly, because a person’s status in immigration detention is not permanent and can change. The use of immigration detention in all cases is subject to regular reviews and consequently, a change in circumstance may result in a different consideration. It is quite possible that an immigration detainee is referred to the National Referral Mechanism during a detention period and is released into the community at any point during that process.The decision to detain, or maintain detention of individuals that have been referred to the NRM is made in line with the Adults at Risk in Immigration Detention (AAR) policy. Consequently, the decision to release an individual because of vulnerabilities highlighted in an NRM referral, is also considered in line with this policy and is recorded as such on central records.The Home Office does not currently centrally record any particular indicator of risk under the AAR policy. This is because the AAR policy is based on evidence levels rather than level of risk and there are currently no indica-tors of risk which are considered more significant than others. The Home Office therefore, currently, centrally record the relevant level of evidence under the policy, rather than the indicator(s) of risk.In light of the above, we are therefore unable to directly report on the num-ber of NRM referrals for those who are detained for immigration purposes there have been and of those, who many were released from detention, or for whom their detention was maintained.

Immigrants: Detainees

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people detained for immigration purposes and removed from the UK have been subsequently re-detained for immigration purposes in each of the last five years.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been released from detention for immigration purposes to no fixed abode in each of the past five years.

Caroline Nokes: Providing the information requested would require a manual check of individual records which could only be done at disproportionate cost.

Detainees: Self-harm and Suicide

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many incidents of (a) suicide and (b) self-harm requiring medical treatment occurred at each immigration removal centre in each of the last three years.

Caroline Nokes: Any death in immigration detention is subject to investigation by the police, the coroner (or Procurator Fiscal in Scotland) and the independent Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.In the period 1 January 2016 to 30 September 2018 there has been one death of an individual detained under immigration powers, that has been determined by a coroner as a suicide on the balance of probabilities. This death occurred at The Verne immigration removal centre (IRC).On 29 November the Government published additional information on those held within the immigration detention estate in direct response to the statement made by the Home Secretary on 24 July. This included data on the number of deaths in immigration detention in 2017. Staff at all immigration removal centres are trained to identify those at risk of self harm so that action can be taken to minimise the risk. All incidents of self harm are treated very seriously and every step is taken to prevent incidents of this nature. Formal risk assessments on initial detention and systems for raising concerns at any subsequent point feed into established self harm procedures in every IRC, which are in turn underpinned by the Home Office Operating Standard on the prevention of self-harm and Detention Services Order 06/2008 Assessment Care in Detention Teamwork (ACDT).Self harm incidents requiring medical treatment in each IRC for the last three years are shown in the table below. This is provisional management information that has not been assured to the standard of Official Statistics.Immigration Removal Centre201620172018 to 30 June 2018Brook House535434Campsfield House19195Colnbrook616269Dungavel House1114Harmondsworth90100108Morton Hall5411354The Verne2627ClosedTinsley House348Yarl’s Wood33597These are the number of incidents of self harm requiring medical treatment; they do not necessarily equate to the number of individuals requiring medical treatment as one individual may have received treatment on more than one occasion.

Detainees: Medical Examinations

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many rule 35 reports were issued by medical practitioners at each immigration removal centre in each of the past three years.

Caroline Nokes: The number of Rule 35 (1), (2) and (3) reports submitted between 1 January 2015 and 30 September 2018, broken down by IRC is published in Migration Transparency data found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data#immigration-enforcement.

Refugees: Children

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children were granted leave to enter the UK under the Calais Child Refugee scheme in (a) 2016, (b) 2017 and (c) to date.

Caroline Nokes: As part of the UK’s comprehensive support to the clearance of the Calais camp, the Government transferred 769 unaccompanied children to the UK from 1 October 2016 – 15 July 2017, all of whom claimed asylum on arrival in the UK.On 30 November 2017, the Government published data on the numbers of children transferred to the UK from the Calais camp clearance. Of the 769 children who came to the UK from Calais, 220 were transferred in accordance with section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016. Children continue to be relocated to the UK from France, Greece and Italy under section 67, up to the specified number of 480. The remaining 549 children were transferred from Calais to reunite with eligible family members already in the UK.The Government has introduced bespoke forms of leave for those transferred to the UK to reunite with family as part of the Calais camp clearance and under section 67 who do not qualify for international protection. Individuals who qualify for these forms of leave will have the right to study, work, access public funds and healthcare, and can apply for settlement in the UK after five years under section 67 leave and ten years under Calais leave. Grants of section 67 leave and Calais leave continue to be issued to eligible individuals. We will publish details on the form of leave granted to those transferred from Calais under section 67 and to reunite with eligible family once all cases have been assessed.We also continue to meet our commitments to transferring unaccompanied children present in another EU Member State with qualifying family in the UK, under the EU Dublin Regulation for the purpose of assessing their asylum claim. We publish regular data on transfers under the Dublin process, and the next data publication will be in February 2019.

Visas: Health Professions

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Government plans to end the temporary lifting of the restrictions on Tier 2 visas for NHS Staff.

Caroline Nokes: There are no current plans to remove the exemption for doctors and nurses from the Tier 2 annual cap

Visas: Overseas Students

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on visa arrangements for international students after the UK leaves the EU.

Caroline Nokes: The Government will shortly be publishing an Immigration White Paper which will set out the future immigration system after the UK leads the EU.

British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies: Companies

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether each of the UK Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies are operating on the agreed terms of the exchange of notes and technical protocol for sharing beneficial ownership information.

Mr Ben Wallace: The Home Office oversees the exchange of notes arrangements to share company beneficial ownership information between UK law enforcement agencies, the British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.The government reviewed the Exchange of Notes arrangements earlier this year, after six months of operation, and found that all the arrangements were working well. This is described in a Written Ministerial Statement of 1st May 2018 (HLWS641). The government will conduct a statutory review of these arrangements by summer 2019.

Northern Ireland Office

Trade Agreements: Northern Ireland

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what estimate she has made of the effect on the Northern Ireland economy of potential changes to the trade relationship with the rest of the UK as a result of the backstop provisions in the EU Withdrawal Agreement.

John Penrose: Holding answer received on 11 December 2018



As was set out in paragraphs 49 and 50 in the Joint report on progress during phase 1 of negotiations under Article 50 TEU on the UK’s orderly withdrawal from the EU: "The United Kingdom remains committed to protecting North-South cooperation and to its guarantee of avoiding a hard border. Any future arrangements must be compatible with these overarching requirements. The United Kingdom's intention is to achieve these objectives through the overall EU-UK relationship. Should this not be possible, the United Kingdom will propose specific solutions to address the unique circumstances of the island of Ireland. In the absence of agreed solutions, the United Kingdom will maintain full alignment with those rules of the Internal Market and the Customs Union which, now or in the future, support North-South cooperation, the all island economy and the protection of the 1998 Agreement. 50. In the absence of agreed solutions, as set out in the previous paragraph, the United Kingdom will ensure that no new regulatory barriers develop between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom, unless, consistent with the 1998 Agreement, the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly agree that distinct arrangements are appropriate for Northern Ireland. In all circumstances, the United Kingdom will continue to ensure the same unfettered access for Northern Ireland's businesses to the whole of the United Kingdom internal market.” The UK Government’s assessment is that there will be minimal change to businesses as we are committed to unfettered access for Northern Ireland to its most important market, Great Britain.

Treasury

Alcoholic Drinks: Prices

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to table the increased affordability of alcohol.

Robert Jenrick: The price of alcoholic drinks is a matter for businesses and consumers. However policies such as alcohol duty can have an impact, for example to address the issue of overconsumption of cheaper so-called “white cider” the government is legislating in the current Finance Bill for a new, higher, rate of duty. HM Treasury keeps all taxes, including alcohol duty, under review.

Social Security Benefits: Children

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of paying benefits to working parents whose children are living abroad in each of the last three years.

Elizabeth Truss: HMRC does not collect data on the entire benefits system. However, for Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit paid, which amounted to £11.7 billion and £20.9 billion in 2017-18 respectively, it is estimated that £35 million was paid for children resident in another EEA country. This consists of £20 million of Child Benefit and £15 million of Child Tax Credit.

Foreign Investment in UK

Liam Byrne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of Foreign Direct Investment in the UK in 2017-18 was represented by (a) acquisitions, mergers and joint ventures and (b) new investments or expansions.

John Glen: The proportion of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) attributable to merger and acquisition (M&A) activity can vary substantially from year to year. For instance, almost all of the inward FDI flows in 2016 can be attributed to a small number of high value deals. In 2017, the ONS recorded that 23.8% of FDI flows into the UK were due to mergers and acquisitions (net of disposals). The remainder can include acquisition of equity (share ownership), reinvested earnings and inter-company loans. However, we cannot ascertain how much new investment or expansions contributed to this remainder.

Business: Taxation

Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many investigations have been conducted by HMRC into UK businesses by region since the 2016-17 financial year up to the most recent data available.

Mel Stride: HMRC does not record the number of investigations split by region.

EU Budget: Contributions

Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what sum the UK is obliged by treaty to pay the EU when the UK leaves the EU.

John Glen: The Government has always recognised that the UK has obligations to the EU, and the EU obligations to the UK, that will survive the UK’s withdrawal – and that these would need to be resolved. The UK is a nation that honours its obligations, and we will honour the commitments we made during our membership. We have reached a fair financial settlement with the EU, honouring commitments we made during our period of membership, and have ensured a fair deal for UK taxpayers.The OBR updated their central forecast in the October Economic and Fiscal Outlook publication, to incorporate the latest information on the cost of the financial settlement, the estimate remains within the £35 – 39bn range.

Fraud: Liability

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Attorney General on proposals to reform the law on corporate liability for economic crime.

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Justice on proposals to reform the law on corporate liability for economic crime.

John Glen: The Ministry of Justice carried out a call for evidence on corporate criminal liability for economic crime in 2017, to establish whether further reform of the law was necessary. The response is expected to issue in 2019.

Infrastructure: Northern Ireland

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps he has taken to assess the value for money of the spending of funds he has allocated for infrastructure in Northern Ireland.

Elizabeth Truss: Assessing value for money of infrastructure projects is a devolved matter. Assessments should be made in line with published HM Treasury guidance.

Married People: Tax Allowances

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to (a) promote the marriage allowance to people who are entitled to it and (b) encourage such people to take up that allowance.

Mel Stride: Marriage Allowance was introduced in April 2015, to recognise the importance of marriage in the tax system, and support those on low incomes by helping them keep more of the money they earn. HMRC ran a number of advertising campaigns to raise awareness of the savings Marriage Allowance can bring to eligible couples. The first campaign ran from October 2015 to March 2016, and the second ran from November 2016 to March 2017. A variety of channels were used including press, radio adverts, and digital advertising.HMRC continues to promote the availability of Marriage Allowance through ongoing and targeted communications. Information on how to claim Marriage Allowance is available on the GOV.UK website and it can be claimed through the personal tax account, on GOV.UK, or by telephone to HMRC. Any couples who have yet to claim will not lose out as they have until 5 April 2020 to backdate it.